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MOSES BROWN, CAPTAIN U. S. N. 
Sketched from an old portrait. 



MOSES BROWN 
CAPTAIN U.S.N. 



By 
EDGAR STANTON MACLAY, A. M. 

/Author of A History of the United States Navy, A His- 
tory of American Trivateers, Reminiscences of the 
Old Navy, Life and Adventures of Admiral 
Thilip ; Editor of the Journal of IVilliam 
Maclay (U. S. Senator from Tennsyl- 
vania, lySg-iy^i), Editor of the 
Diary of Samuel Maclay {U. S. 
Senator from Tennsylva- 
nia, 1802-1809) 



3 » ? > ? » » J 



NEW YORK 
THE BAKER AND TAYLOR COMPANY 

33-37 East Seventeenth Street 



ubraky o+ congress 

Two Cvpies Reoaivsd 

MAR 16 1904 
Class *• xxc. No. 

' COPY B 



Copyright, 1004, by 
THE BAKER AND TAYLOR COMPANY 






Published March, 1904 






The American Printing House 

312 to 320 E. 23 5t. 

New York 



To the Memory of 
EMILY ADAMS GETCHELL 

February 7, 1850 — July 2, 1901 

One of those Noblewomen of America to whose Patriotism 
We are Indebted for the Preservation and Com- 
memoration OF MANY Heroic Episodes 
IN Our Country's History 

THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 



CONTENTS 



EXPLANATORY 

Two forgotten sea fights — Errors concerning the 
General Arnold — Navy officers in privateers — 
General neglect of our maritime interests — No 
official record — A well authenticated battle — Our 
three Merrimacs — Building the first Merrimac 
— Capture of the Sukey and Friends . 13-23 

CHAPTER I 

OUR UKKNOWN NAVAL HEROES 

Many good fighters — "Dame Opportunity" — Dis- 
obeying orders so as to "get at the enemy" 
— Farragut's opportunity — Nelson and Colling- 
wood — Striking illustration in the careers of 
Paulding and Farragut — Eventful lives of sea- 
men — Moses Brown's records . . . 25-33 

CHAPTER II 

NEWBURYPORT 

"A mortal blow" at British supremacy — True 
" Down East " nerve — A call for volunteers — 
The remarkable capture of the Friends — Ac- 
tivity of Newburyport privateers — " Fixing out " 
armed vessels — Moses Brown's first voyages — 
High ideals of morality — "Gentleman" Brown 
— At the siege of Louisburgh — Trading in the 



[5] 



CONTENTS 

West Indies — ^What the conditions of old-time 
apprenticeship meant — A sample Indenture 34-47 

CHAPTER III 

HIS FraST SEA FIGHT 

In His Majesty's service — A part of a great fleet — 
Becomes separated in a storm — Attacked by two 
French privateers — Brown's injury — Two months 
in a hospital at Guadeloupe — The unfortunate 
Phoebe — Completing his apprenticeship — Smug- 
gling — Fondness for children — Nearly buried 
alive at sea — Foundering at sea — Seven days in 
an open boat — The rescue . , . . 48-58 

CHAPTER IV 

IN THE lion's den 

Brown's "resourcefulness" — Sailing for Europe. 
His audacious arrival in England — Spends ten 
weeks in Venice — In a sudden predicament — 
Leaping out of a trap — " Safe and sound " in 
the Thames — Good English money in his pocket 
— Return to America — A "perilous" land voy- 
age — Safe return to Newburyport . . 59-67 

CHAPTER V 

FIRST COMMAND OF A WAR-SHIP 

Formidable privateers — Naming cruisers after gen- 
erals — Sailing in the Hannah — Promptly cap- 
tured by the enemy — In a Rhode Island prison 
ship — Return to Newburyport — In command of 
a splendid privateer — A plot to murder Moses 
Brown— Fatal testing of the ship's guns— Get- 
ting a new battery — " Then I'll die directly, sir " 
— An unprofitable cruise .... 68-74 



[6] 



CONTENTS 
CHAPTER VI 

A " WARM BATTLE " 

A forgotten sea battle— Erroneous records— Captain 
Brown's modest account — Corroborative testi- 
mony—Sailing from Cape Ann— " His August 
Highness, the ship's cook"— Off the Western 
Islands — The enemy sighted— A showing of 
colors— At close quarters— Repulse of the enemy 
—The Americans unable to chase— The Greg- 
son—'' A rebel frigate of thirty-two guns " 75-83 

CHAPTER VII 

A FORGOTTEN SEA FIGHT 

Waiting in vain for the Gregson—Mokin^ a rich 
prize — Good discipline in the General Arnold — ■ 
"Gentlemen Sailors"— Off Cape Finisterre— 
A swift chase — Preliminary "sparring" — The 
Englishman sinks alongside— Captain Beynon's 
' magnificent fight— Courtesy to his prisoners- 
Captain Beynon's official report— " Our guns 
told well on both sides "— " The cook, I beUeve, 
was drowned" 84-91 

CHAPTER VIII 

A PRISONER OF WAR 

The audacity of Brown's attack— Chased by a fleet 
— Capture and recapture of the George— The 
General Arnold taken by the Experiment— S\v 
James' gallantry— " His Majesty, King George 
the Third"— "His Excellency, General George 
Washington "—A spirited scene— Arrival at 



CONTENTS 

Savannah — Exchange of prisoners — A series of 
terrific storms— Another "perilous" land voy- 
age 92-97 

CHAPTER IX 

PERILOUS TIMES FOR MERCHANTMEN" 

In command of the splendid Intrepid — One of John 
Paul Jones' officers for his lieutenant — Captain 
Jones visits Newburyport — On a difficult and 
dangerous mission — Its successful accomplish- 
ment — Acts of violence by neutrals — Planning 
for a voyage to India — Mr. Nathaniel Tracy: 
" Merchant Prince " — Lieutenant Patrick Fletch- 
er—Hardships of a seafaring life— " Thirty- 
two years of toil, trouble, and almost death" 
— Starting life anew — Final entries in his 
diary 98-109 

CHAPTER X 

TRADING UNDER DIFFICULTIES 

Captured by an English privateer in time of peace — 
Ship and cargo detained at New Providence at 
ruinous loss — Discouraging American carrying 
trade — Some fairly profitable voyages — Wrecked 
in the West Indies — Captured by a Bermuda 
privateer — In charge of a drunken prize master 
— Brown seriously ill and no medical aid — 
Brown compelled to buy his own ship . 110-115 

CHAPTER XI 

PREPARING FOR WAR WITH FRANCE 

Our country without naval protection — Its bad re- 
sults — False economy — Depredations by English, 

[8] 



CONTENTS 

French and Barbary cruisers on our commerce 
—Our frigate Cre^cew^— Nomenclature of frig- 
ates— " Not a penny for tribute "—Establishing 
a new navy— Our new war-ships — The new 
officers 116-122 

CHAPTER XII 

THE FIRST Merrimac 
Our three famous Merrimacs — New England losses 
on the high seas — Newburyport merchants decide 
to build a war-ship— Send a petition to Congress 
—William Hackett the famous shipbuilder- 
Some successful ships— Patriotism in 1798— A 
Fourth of July celebration — Moses Brown made 
a captain in the navy— A famous launching — 
A splendid vessel— Her oflScers— Comparative 
cost 123-136 

CHAPTER XIII 

ON THE SCENE OF HOSTILITIES 

A comprehensive plan of action — Massing our naval 
forces in the West Indies— The Merrimac's log- 
book one of unusual beauty — Sailing from 
Boston— "The blackest of black nights "—A 
scene of anxiety — A serious defect in spars — 
"Sail, ho!"— A long, stern chase— A mistaken 
identity— " Hazy and fitful weather"— On the 
scene of action— Extra precautions— Searching 
for friends— At Prince Rupert's Bay— Under 
fire— A happy meeting .... 137-152 

CHAPTER XIV 

CONVOYING A GREAT FLEET 

Preparing for convoy duty— Vain chase of a packet 

[9] 



CONTENTS 

ship — Keeping a sharp lookout — In company 
with the mighty Constitution — No " Idle bread " 
on this cruise — Strangers found in the fleet — A 
vexatious chase — Severe discipline — Washington's 
birthday at St. Kitts— " Make the best of your 
way home" — Return to the rendezvous — An 
exciting chase 153-162 

CHAPTER XV 

CAPTURING FRENCH WAR-SHIPS 

A lucky re-capture — A fleet of sixty American mer- 
chantmen — A brief visit home — Capture of the 
Magicienne — A terrific tropical storm — Brown's 
coolness — Cruising in company — A mishap to the 
Norfolk — A fleet of 100 merchantmen— Active 
convoy duty — Secret information — Capture of 
the Bonaparte — A dangerous privateer . 163-173 

CHAPTER XVI 

VERY ACTIVE CRUISING 

Chasing a strange sail — A sociable dinner at sea — 
An interruption — A good dinner, anyway — 
— Searching for a privateer — Ceaseless activity 
— A lucky recapture — A futile chase — At Vera 
Cruz— Detention in that port— Chasing a badly- 
scared Spaniard — Arrival in Havana — Ordered 
to return home — Bad weather — A serious leak 
— Extreme measures— Home again . . 174-184) 

CHAPTER XVII 

CLOSING SCENES 

Increased activity in the West Indies— Enlarged 
sphere of action — Expedition to Cura9ao — Rout 

[10] 



CONTENTS 

of the French— Capture of the Brillante— Ne- 
cessity of a naval force— Prosperity of the na- 
tion under naval protection— Reducing the navy 
— Causes of opposition to the navy— John Adams 
and Thomas Jefferson — Senator Maclay on the 
"Court Party "—Captain Brown is "honorably 
discharged "—" Thrown on the world" again— 
The Merrimac sold and soon afterward wrecked 
—Brown returns to mercantile service— More 
West Indian voyages— His last view of his native 
shores— His pathetic death . . . 185-195 

CHAPTER XVIII 

CONCLUSION 

Moses Brown as a type of naval officer- His start- 
ling experiences—" Unofficial opportunities "— 
An illustration in Japan — Everyday heroism — 
An incident on the Thames, England— A critical 
moment — Many such instances unrecorded — 
Brown's personal appearance — His stormy ca- 
reer — His undaunted courage — Quiet religious 
professions— High ideals of morality— Not the 
"Loblolly, soft-headed" kind— A sympathetic 
nature — His self-possession — Temperate in his 
habits — Honored descendants . . . 196-208 

APPENDIX I 
Explanation of the Minerva's Commission . 209-213 

Index 213-220 



[11] 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Moses Brown, Captain U. S. N. . . , . Frontispiece 

Title page fac-simile of the 

Merrimack's Log Facing page 20 

Views of Old Newburyport " "34 

Fac-simile of Minerva's Com- 
mission " "108 

Sloop of War Merrimack " " 126 

Fac-simile of page in Merri- 
mack's Log Between pages 140-141 

MAPS 

Newburyport and Its Vicinity page 37 

Scene of some of Moses Brown's 

Early Voyages = . " 5^ 

Scene of Moses Brown's Adven- 
tures in the Old World o . "61 

Scene of Moses Brown's Adven- 
tures in the West Indies ,,.... . "139 



EXPLANATORY 

That two important battles, fought on the 
high seas in our struggle for independence by a 
regularly commissioned American war-ship, 
should have escaped official record or historical 
note during the last one hundred years is, in- 
deed, a remarkable fact. The ship was the 
General Arnold, of twenty guns and one hun- 
dred and twenty men, commanded by Moses 
Brown, who afterward became a captain in the 
navy; some of the officers serving under him 
also entering the navy, notably Patrick 
Fletcher, who, when commanding the 40-gun 
frigate Insurgent, was lost with his ship, in the 
great equinoctial gale of September, 1800. 

The only official mention we have of the Gen- 
eral Arnold is an entry in Lieutenant George F. 
Emmons' admirable " Statistical History of the 
United States Navy," pubKshed " under the 
[13] 



EXPLANATORY 

authority of the Navy Department " in 1850. 
This entry reads as follows : " General Arnold, 
brig, twenty guns, one hundred and twenty 
men, commanded by J. Magee, [the ship] from 
Massachusetts, built in 1778. [On] January 
7, 1779, drove ashore at Plymouth, and was 
lost with seventy-five men." That this entry 
is erroneous will be seen by the fact, now clearly 
established, that the General Arnold, so far 
from having been wrecked January, 1779, in 
March and May of that year fought two battles 
with British armed ships.^ 

Both actions took place within a short sail of 
the coast of Portugal, near where the 44-gun 
frigate Constitution, in 1815, achieved her 
greatest triumph and performed her most bril- 

^It is far from the writer's purpose, in citing this 
error, to cast any disparagement on Lieutenant Emmons' 
history. That the error exists is not that officer's fault, 
but that of the then-established records, which failed to 
note the General Arnold's splendid services. Lieutenant 
Emmons' work is monumental, and will stand for years 
as a model of conscientious, painstaking labor — down to 
the minutest detail. 

[14] 



TWO FORGOTTEN SEA FIGHTS 

liant service. The first English vessel was the 
heavily armed privateer Gregson of Liverpool, 
carrying twenty guns (of heavier caliber than 
the American ship ) and one hundred and eighty 
men; of whom eighteen were killed and a pro- 
portionate number were wounded. The Gregson 
was taken only after a desperate action of 
" two hours and fifteen minutes." 

The second action, also, was with a heavily 
armed English privateer, the Nanny, of sixteen 
guns. Though of inferior force, the Nanny 
made a magnificent fight — actually sinking 
alongside the General Arnold, her men scarcely 
having time to man the boats. 

Although the General Arnold was a cruiser 
armed and sent out at private expense, she can 
properly be accounted a part of the regular 
navy of the Revolution. At that time, 1779, 
the Continental navy had been reduced to six 
vessels: one of eighteen, one of twenty, one of 
twenty-eight and three of thirty-two guns. 

From this time on, to the close of the Revolu- 
tion, Congress depended almost entirely on our 
[15] 



EXPLANATORY 

privateers to maintain the flag on the high seas, 
the Government frequently calhng on them for 
special missions of national importance; Cap- 
tain Brown himself three years later — hav- 
ing Henry Lunt, who had served under John 
Paul Jones in the famous Bonhomme Richard- 
Serapis fight, as his first lieutenant — success- 
fully performing a voyage to I'Orient and back 
to Baltimore on an errand of interest to the 
entire country. 

That such services as the General Arnold per- 
formed have escaped official record and formal 
notice upward of one hundred years, is only 
another evidence of the general neglect with 
which our maritime interests have been treated 
by the people. There is not a land battle — not 
even the veriest skirmish — which occurred in the 
Revolution that has not been exploited in page 
after page of official and popular literature, 
while counties, cities and other geographical 
points innumerable have been named in their 
honor. 

The so-called " battle " of Lexington, in 
[16] 



NEGLECT OF THE NAVY 

which a few brave farmers, armed mostly with 
shotguns and pitchforks — having no miHtary 
formation or pretension whatever — were de- 
feated by a detachment of British regulars, with 
a loss of seven killed and nine wounded, and no 
injury to the enemy, is familiar to every school 
child in the United States. Yet, here we have 
two " real live " sea battles — between regularly 
armed and commissioned cruisers, in one of 
which eighteen men were killed, with a propor- 
tionate number wounded — ^which for over a hun- 
dred years have had not even official record ! Is 
it possible that the general opprobrium of the 
name Benedict Arnold — after whom this gallant 
ship was named — had anything to do with this 
erasure of all mention of her distinguished ser- 
vices from official records? General Arnold 
made his treasonable overtures to the British a 
few months after Brown's return to Newbury- 
port. 

Shortly after her second victory, the General 
Arnold herself was captured by the English 
50-gun ship Experiment, Captain Sir James 
[17] 



EXPLANATORY 

Wallace, so it is probable that all her papers, 
records, logs etc., were lost. The Experiment 
sailed for Charleston, S. C, where Captain 
Brown was placed in a prison ship. As illus- 
trating the vicissitudes of war, it is interesting 
to note that Sir James himself, soon afterward, 
was captured by Count d'Estaing's fleet. 

Captain Brown did not reach his home until 
seven months after his capture by the Experi- 
ment, so that it is more than likely that his offi- 
cial report of these actions to the owner of the 
General Arnold, Nathaniel Tracy, was made 
verbally, and no record of it is hkely to be in 
existence. 

We have, however, four authentic narratives 
of these actions which establish, beyond ques- 
tion, their claim to a place in the pages of his- 
tory. The first is the private diary of Captain 
Brown himself, in his own handwriting, which 
was discovered at a distant point in Maine many 
years after his death. The original diary is now 
in the hands of the*Maine Historical Society. 

Next, we have the journal of Thomas Greele 
[18] 



TWO AUTHENTICATED BATTLES 

(who was sailing-master in the General Arnold) 
and the " Narrative of Ignatius Webber," who 
was a prize-master in the same ship. It was only 
at a comparatively recent date that these valu- 
able records were brought to light, and the 
writer frankly acknowledges that he is greatly 
indebted to the late Emily Adams Getchell — to 
whom this work is dedicated — for their unearth- 
ing. 

Fourthly, we have the official report of the 
British commander of the second English pri- 
vateer — giving entirely corroborative state- 
ments of the action — a copy of which, fortu- 
nately, has been preserved, so that, taken alto- 
gether, we have one of the completest and most 
satisfactory accounts of any sea battle fought 
in the Revolution. 

Another feature of consideration in this work 
is the account given of the United States sloop- 
of-war Merr'imac^s valuable services in the war 
against France, 1798-1801. The river Merri- 
mac is famous in American history, there hav- 
ing been in all three ships in our navy bearing 
[19] 



EXPLANATORY 

that name. The reading public is f amihar with 
the second and third Merrimacs: the iron-mailed 
monster that caused such fearful havoc among 
the National wooden warships in Hampton 
Roads, March 8, 1862, and the clumsy collier 
which Hobson so gallantly carried into San- 
tiago's harbor, June 3, 1898. It is an interest- 
ing fact that both these M^rnmacs (one against 
the North and the other for it) were commanded 
by sons of the South. The late Emily Adams 
Getchell published a poem a few years ago 
touching on this point. 

Of the first Merrimac, however, little Is 
known ; yet her career — at least at its inception 
— was quite as singular, if not as dramatic, as 
that of her sisters. It was a remarkable scene 
on that 12th of October, 1798, when the good 
people of Newburyport, Mass., and from the 
surrounding country for many miles, assem- 
bled on the banks of the Merrimac to witness 
the launching of the finest war-ship of her class 
in the United States that day — a craft they had 
built at their own private expense to be pre- 
[20] 



m-: 








5? 




Journal, 



k£pt on board 





« s 



d.'g^J TH£ UNITED STATES SHIP, 

ill 

^MERRIMACK; 

OF TWENTY GUNS. 

m 






Motts Btotun, CO. 



COMMANDER. 



Jif/J)^ jB}^, 







J05C}J& ^toiDn 




Title page facsimile of tJie Merrimack's log, reduced from g x^ inches. 



OUR THREE " MERRIMACS " 

sented, free of all immediate cost, to the na- 
tion. 

It would not be an exaggeration to compare 
this scene with the supposititious spectacle of 
the sturdy people of Providence, R. I., to-day, 
building a modern cruiser of the Montgomery 
type at their own expense and presenting her to 
the Government to fight the country's enemies. 

Our Government, in 1798, was sorely pressed 
for money and eagerly accepted the gift, so that 
the first Merrimac sailed for the West Indies 
January 3, 1779, where she remained — almost 
continuously at sea — until the termination of 
hostilities, which was in 1801. She captured 
four French privateers, recaptured a number of 
American and English merchantmen that were 
in the hands of French prize crews, was flag- 
ship in the expedition to Cura9ao and rendered 
other important services. 

Nearly all the details of this service have re- 
mained for over one hundred years a closed book 
to the public. Through the courtesy of the 
Hon. Moses Brown, of Massachusetts, a great- 
•[21] 



EXPLANATORY 

grandson of Captain Brown, the original log- 
book of the Merrimac — a weather-stained vol- 
ume, thirteen by eight inches, of one hundred 
and seventy pages — ^has been placed in the 
hands of the writer, and has thrown a flood of 
hght on this " darkest period " of our navy's 
literature. It gives a detailed account of cap- 
tures and recaptures and of the important 
convoy service in which she was engaged. 

Among the many items of historical impor- 
tance that have been brought to light in this 
work it would be unfair to pass over that of the 
capture of the English provision ships Sukey 
and Friends by seventeen men in whaleboats out 
of Newbur3^port, as described in Chapter II. 
The deed was daringly conceived and cleverly 
executed. Trivial as the affair might seem at 
first glance, it was the repetition of such cap- 
tures that made the carrying on of war in Amer- 
ica an exceedingly complex problem for British 
commanders. The author is not aware that 
any mention of this plucky enterprise has ever 
before been given, formally, to the public. 
[22] 



AUTHOR'S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The writer has taken the liberty of making 
maps to cover the geographical points of every 
few chapters. Although most of the names 
mentioned in the narrative are familiar, interest 
in the story is enhanced by having the points 
clearly indicated in simple maps interspersed 
here and there in the text. 

In conclusion, the writer desires to acknowl- 
edge the assistance he has received in gathering 
material for this work, from the late Emily 
Adams Getchell, the Hon. Moses Brown, Mr. 
Causten Browne, Mr. George P. Tilton, Charles 
Wellesley Allen and Mr. WilKam H. Swasey. 

E. S. M. 
New York, December, 1903. 



[23] 



MOSES BROWN— CAPTAIN U. S. N. 
CHAPTER I 

OUE UNKNOWN NAVAL HEROES 

IN his " Elegy Written in a Country Church- 
yard," Thomas Gray speaks feelingly of 
the unknown master minds, the unborn 
heroes, the unheralded orators and the unappre- 
ciated statesmen who lived and passed away in 
obscurity because elusive opportunity — that 
sudden chance which comes but once in a lifetime 
and, if embraced, carries men to the pinnacle of 
fame — either did not visit them or was not rec- 
ognized at the supreme moment. 

The same lines of this Elegy may easily be 
applied to the great body of men who have com- 
posed the personnel of the United States Navy 
in the last one hundred and twenty-five years. 
It has been said by those who are competent to 
[25] 



OUR UNKNOWN NAVAL HEROES 

pronounce authoritatively on the subject, that 
where there was but one John Paul Jones and 
one Nicholas Biddle in our navy known to the 
public during the war for independence, there 
were dozens known to their brother officers ; that 
where there was only one Thomas Truxtun, only 
one Richard Dale and only one George Preble 
in our wars with France and Tripoli, there were 
among the navy officers who fought with them 
much of the stuff of which Nelsons, Colling- 
woods. and Farraguts were made; that where 
the public knew of only one David Porter, one 
Stephen Decatur, one William Bainbridge, one 
Oliver Hazard Perry, one James Macdonough 
and one Charles Stewart in the war of 1812, 
these same master-minds knew among their ship- 
mates scores of officers who failed to emerge 
from comparative obscurity only because Dame 
Opportunity was unkind to them. 

And so we could go on through the entire 

one hundred and twenty-five years of our Navy's 

glorious career. There were scores of unknown 

Farraguts, Porters, Wordens, Winslows in our 

[26] 



A NAUTICAL WILL-O'-THE-WISP 

maritime struggle with the South, and that 
there were not scores of Deweys in our conflict 
with Spain was simply because there were not 
scores of opportunities. 

" Opportunity," that wonderful lodestone 
which points out the path to immortal fame, is 
the illusive will-o'-the-wisp sought by the pro- 
fessional sailor from the time he enters upon his 
novitiate to the day he finally lays down the 
burden of professional duty. It is a mysterious 
phantom which he pursues in his work by day 
and in his dreams by night; constantly in his 
mind, seldom seen but once in the longest pro- 
fessional careers — in too many cases never at all 
— yet ever before him like the mirage torment- 
ing the throat-parched traveler in the desert, 
ever urging him onward with tantalizing per- 
sistency in the dreary performance of monot- 
onous, soul-trying routine of daily professional 
hfe. 

It has been on account of this maddening de- 
sire to seize opportunity that officers and men in 
the service have been impelled to approach closer 
[27] 



OUR UNKNOWN NAVAL HEROES 

to the verge of actual insubordination — in some 
cases boldly refusing to obey the strictest orders 
of their superiors, even to the extent of incur- 
ring the death penalty — than for any other 
motive. 

We recall the pathetic answer of a seaman of 
the Revolution who, on being rebuked for tak- 
ing it upon himself to lead a party of boarders 
on the enemy's deck, said: " I — I — ^jes' couldn't 
help it, sir." We turn with pride to the episode 
of the slender Philadelphian youth who — 
against the sternest commands — smuggled him- 
self aboard the ketch Intrepid when starting on 
her mission of extreme peril into the harbor of 
Tripoli, " merely because I wished to see the 
parts." We remember the bold defiance of Cap- 
tain Isaac Hull, who sailed out of Boston in 
1812 against the orders of the Secretary of the 
Navy — an act for which he might easily have 
been shot — and began that series of brilliant 
victories over the British on the high seas which 
made American naval prowess feared and re- 
spected the world over. 

[28] 



BRAVING ALL ESTABLISHED RULES 

Farragut's determination to run his frail 
wooden ships past the Confederate forts below 
New Orleans and the hell-barriers that stretched 
across the river, in the dead of night, was 
against the urgent advice of some of his highest 
officers and in utter defiance of all, then, recog- 
nized rules of naval warfare. Had that extraor- 
dinary venture terminated disastrously, Far- 
ragut undoubtedly would have been summarily 
removed from command — to await severer han- 
dling. Farragut's dash over the fatal line of 
torpedoes in Mobile Bay, two years later, which 
called forth that famous expression, " Damn 
the torpedoes ! " was, in fact, a damning of 
all rules of propriety and professional cau- 
tion. 

It was Collingwood who, while leading the sec- 
ond line of the British fleet at Trafalgar, at a 
moment when his life was in imminent peril, ex- 
ultantly exclaimed : " What would Nelson give 
to be here ! " while Nelson, about the same mo- 
ment, remarked, " See how that noble fellow Col- 
lingwood carries his ship into action ! " Each 
[29] 



OUR UNKNOWN NAVAL HEROES 

was reveling in the opportunity then within 
grasp. 

Dewey's midnight entry into the harbor of 
Manila was regarded by nearly all the Euro- 
pean naval experts then in the East as rash and 
imprudent, while Commander Miller's fiery 
expostulation against Sampson's order, depriv- 
ing him of the command of the collier Merrimac 
at a moment when opportunity was within 
reach, bordered seriously on one of the gravest 
of military offenses. 

It was to seize these fleeting chances of " get- 
ting at the enemy," thereby winning distinction, 
that these and scores of other officers have 
braved tradition, spumed sound advice and 
courted the severest penalties of the service. 

In the careers of Paulding and Farragut we 
have a striking illustration of the fickleness of 
opportunity. One became famous throughout 
the world, the other is scarcely known outside of 
the profession or, at least, beyond his native 
shores. Both were promising midshipmen 
(Paulding having the advantage of four 
[30] 



FARRAGUT AND PAULDING 

years), both distinguished themselves in two of 
the most sanguinary and important naval 
actions in 1814 — Farragut on the blood-stained 
decks of the Essex, when she made her heroic 
defense against the British naval force off Val- 
paraiso, and Paulding in the Battle of Lake 
Champlain. Young as these two lads were at 
that time, their conduct in battle could not have 
been surpassed. 

On the close of the war both officers settled 
down to the soul-trying routine of naval life in 
the long years of peace which followed. Had 
it not been for the opportunity that favored 
Farragut in the Civil War, it is probable that 
his name, also, would have been quite as un- 
known to the world to-day as that of Paulding. 
Both officers served through the struggle with 
the Confederacy, but opportunity favored one 
and was unkind to the other — ^yet each had en- 
tered upon his long professional career with 
the rare advantage of a " baptism of blood." 

It is because this class of " unknown naval 
heroes " has had so little recognition in the 
[31] 



OUR UNKNOWN NAVAL HEROES 

annals of our country that the writer feels jus- 
tified in giving the details of the career of Moses 
Brown. He was one of the first captains in the 
United States Navy, and can be taken as a fair 
type of our " unknown naval heroes." 

It must not be inferred that because these 
" unknown heroes " did not win great battles 
or exploit themselves in some manner pleasing 
to the popular taste that their careers are devoid 
of interest. On the contrary, from the very 
nature of sea life, a long professional career is 
unusually rich in personal adventure, strange 
experiences in foreign parts and, not infre- 
quently, replete with episodes of historical 
importance. 

It is the province of sailors of long profes- 
sional standing to narrate " true " salt-water 
yarns, expand on the peculiar situations in 
which they found themselves at times when 
aboard, dilate on episodes of international bear- 
ing and what not — and it is regrettable that 
so little of this material has been preserved for 
future reference and confirmation. Many offi- 
[32] 



EVENTFUL LIVES OF SEAMEN 
cers of the old school kept diaries, logs, personal 
reminiscences, etc., in which appear records of 
national importance, as will be seen in the pub- 
lished journals of the two Trenchards, Rear- 
Admiral Philip and Moses Brown. 

Like most of the intelligent seamen of his 
day, Moses Brown kept a diary covering the 
leading events of his stormy career, besides 
which there are personal letters written by him 
in foreign ports and the original log of the 
Merrimac, containing matter of more than in- 
dividual interest. It is with this material, to- 
gether with such side-lights as could be obtained 
bearing on the subject, that the writer has en- 
deavored to frame a truthful picture of the life 
and adventures of one of our " unknown naval 
heroes " of the eighteenth century. 



[33] 



CHAPTER II 

NEWBURYPORT 

OUAINT, old-fashioned, time-honored 
Newburjport, fondly embraced in a 
loving arm of the Merrimac River, can 
boast, probably, of more nautical exploits in the 
cause of American independence than any other 
contemporary seaport of the same population. 
It was off Newbury^ bar that one of the first 
" mortal blows " at British supremacy in the 
North American colonies was struck. On the 
morning of January 15, 1776, a daring party 
from this place captured a ship laden with 
eighty-six butts and thirty hogsheads of porter, 
sixteen hogsheads of sauerkraut, and twenty- 
three live hogs — destined for the British troops 
in Boston. 

Trivial as this statement may appear to the 
casual reader, it was full of deadly portent to 
[34] 



FIRST " MORTAL BLOW " 

the English commander-in-chief in America. 
He well knew that " A soldier cannot fight on an 
empty stomach " — and what was the doughty 
British redcoat without his porter and cheese, or 
the valiant Hessian deprived of his sauerkraut 
and pigs' knuckles ? It may not be irrelevant to 
remark that sixty-two days after this important 
seizure — the British evacuated Boston. 

The style in which this capture was made is 
worthy of all the traditions of New England 
shrewdness. The first prize brought into New- 
buryport in the war for independence was the 
brig Sukey, Captain Engs, from Ireland, bound 
for Boston. She was taken by the privateer 
Washington, and was carried into Newburyport, 
Monday, January 15, 1776. 

Scarcely had the Sukey been made secure when 
another British ship was espied off Newbury bar. 
As she tacked off and on, showing English colors 
— the wind being easterly, with every appear- 
ance of a real old-fashioned New England snow- 
storm coming on — the shrewd people of New- 
buryport concluded that she had mistaken Ips- 
[35] 



NEWBURYPORT 

wich Bay for that of Boston. By putting 
" two and two together," they decided that it 
would be a good idea to visit her " in a purely 
sociable manner." 

On a call for volunteers, seventeen men re- 
sponded and, electing Offin Boardman their 
commander, proceeded to sea in three whale- 
boats — taking care to approach the stranger in 
as inoffensive a manner as New England pru- 
dence might dictate. On coming to close quar- 
ters, the adventurers were satisfied that they 
were right in their conjectures as to the ship 
being laden with provisions for the British army 
and had mistaken this port for that of the Hub. 

Without the slightest sign of hostility, the 
boats moved within speaking distance and in- 
quired from whence the ship hailed and whither 
bound. The answer was: 

" The Friends, from London — ^bound to Bos- 
ton. Where are you from and what land is 
this?" 

With true Down-East nerve, Boardman an- 
swered : 

[36] 





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YICIMITY 1 



NEWBURYPORT 

" We are from Boston. Do you want a 
pilot?" 

Being answered in the affirmative, Boardman 
told them to heave-to and he would come on 
board. The British skipper, Captain Archibald 
Bowie, was only too willing to comply, as he 
had a leeward shore and there was every sign of 
a nasty night coming on. Boardman guided his 
boat alongside to the rope ladder which was 
lowered for him and passed up — unarmed. 

Gaining the deck, the American shook hands 
with Archibald and with that molasses-like suav- 
ity which never fails your true-blue Yankee in 
an emergency — asked after his health, that of 
the crew, how the passage had been, the news 
from London and all other such pleasantries a 
pilot, with a six-guinea fee in view, might be 
expected to indulge in. 

Intentionally, Boardman had completely en- 
gaged the attention of the sturdy British mas- 
ter so that the latter did not notice the sixteen 
other " pilots " — who had hastened on board, 
fully armed, directly after their leader — until 
[38] 



A LEADER IN PRIVATEERING 

they had drawn themselves at " parade arms " 
across the deck ; the British crew being forward 
and their officers aft. 

Boardman now dropped his pleasant, fee- 
seeking blandishments and, to the astonishment 
of the Englishman, ordered the colors to be 
struck. The worthy skipper was too dumb- 
founded to obey but told his mate to perform 
that unpleasant task — ^incidentally suggesting 
that he " supposed the ship and her cargo now 
belonged to her captors but, at the same time, 
he hoped that neither he nor his crew would 
receive any personal injury." Evidently, the 
Briton's mind had been perturbed by the wild 
"Indian," "single -eye" and cold-blooded 
"massacre" stories that were so prevalent in 
England at this time. 

On taking possession of their prize, the 
Americans found that she carried four carriage- 
guns, a crew of about fourteen men and was 
laden with fifty-two chaldrons of coals, eighty- 
six butts and thirty hogsheads of porter (the 
cheese must have been in the Suhey), twenty 
[39] 



NEWBURYPORT 

hogsheads of vinegar, sixteen hogsheads of 
sauerkraut and twenty-three hve hogs. With 
a fair tide and wind the captors brought the 
Friends to the wharf at Newburyport within 
six hours from the beginning of their ven- 
ture. 

But aside from this distinction of having 
struck the first " mortal blow at British su- 
premacy in the North American colonies," New- 
buryport has the unquestioned honor of having 
sent out more privateers to harass English 
commerce in the Revolution than any other of 
our seaports — excepting, perhaps, Salem. Pri- 
vateering in those days had not been raised to 
the high plane of " commerce destroying " of 
the nineteenth century and it is with some in- 
terest that we note the wording of the act under 
which these first private-armed cruisers were 
authorized to do evil unto others. 

In November, 1775, the Provisional Leg- 
islature passed a resolution entitled : " An Act 
for Encouraging the Fixing out of Armed Ves- 
sels to defend the Sea Coast of America," etc. 
[40] 



MOSES BROWN'S ANCESTRY 

This " Fixing out " resulted most disastrously 
for British mercantile interests and most prof- 
itably for the solid merchants of Newburyport. 
About ninety private-armed vessels were " fixed 
out " from Newburyport alone. 

Among the most daring and successful of 
these privateersmen was Moses Brown — a typi- 
cal New England seaman of those stirring times, 
a man bom for the water, a man who died on 
and was buried in, water ; and whose life has not 
been inaptly described as a " single, continuous, 
uninterrupted voyage." 

He was of English ancestry, his line being 
traced back to Edward Browne, of Innbarrow, 
Worcestershire, England, whose son Nicholas 
in 1630 married in Lynn, Mass. The first four 
generations in America had a final " e " to the 
family name, but the fifth and sixth — Moses 
Brown being in the sixth — dropped it. Moses 
Brown's father was Edward Brown, who had 
been a captain in the French war and from 
whom Moses inherited his fine military instincts ; 
and from his mother, Dorothy Pike, he received 
[41] 



NEWBURYPORT 

those deep, quiet, unassuming religious traits 
which so strongly marked his character. 

Moses Brown was born January 23, 1742, 
in that part of Salisbury, Mass., known as 
Ring's Island, near the Old Ferry Landing, 
where the river opens into the sea ; and possibly 
his first " vo^^age " was in the old ferryboat. 

Throughout his adventurous life he carried 
with him the highest ideals of morality. One 
of the officers who served under him in the 
United States sloop-of-war Merrimac, Midship- 
man Ben j amin Whitmore, says : " Captain 
Brown was a brave man and a good disciplina- 
rian. He exhibited much good feeling for the 
crew under his charge and was much respected 
by all his subordinates." He was exceedingly 
averse to the then common punishment of flog- 
ging in the navy and never, except when it was 
absolutely unavoidable from the emergency of 
the case, resorted to it. 

He was equally remarkable for his efforts to 
inculcate temperate habits among his men ; and 
the perfect neatness and order of his ship were 
[42] 



HIS FIRST OF MANY VOYAGES 

subject of common remark. At one time, in a 
foreign port, meeting another person bearing 
his own name, it became customary among the 
people to distinguish between them by calHng 
Moses Brown, " Gentleman Brown." 

Educational facilities being somewhat prim- 
itive at that period, Moses Brown, following 
the custom of the day, was bound out at the 
age of fifteen years as apprentice to Captain 
William Coffin, of whom Moses always spoke in 
terms of highest respect. According to the 
conditions of an apprentice's indenture in those 
days, all his earnings went to the master. 
Young Brown sailed on the first of his many 
voyages in October, 1757, in the sloop Swallow 
for Halifax, returning in November. In the 
following year, 1758, he made two voyages, 
one to the West Indies, in the same sloop, re- 
turning in June, and another, in the sloop 
Ranger, Captain Joseph Ingersol, to Louis- 
burgh. 

At that time Louisburgh was besieged by 
the English, and Moses got his first taste of 
[43] 



NEWBURYPORT 
war. He says : " I tarried there some months 
till its surrender to the British army and then 
returned home in the schooner Neptune, Cap- 
tain Lufsinson, in November." 

That young Brown had rapidly risen in the 
estimation of his master is shown by the fact 
that, in the following year, Captain Coffin in- 
trusted him with the sale of his schooner, the 
Sea Flower, in the West Indies. Coffin sailed 
from Newburyport in February, 1759, for St. 
Kitts, where the Sea Flower was sold. Brown 
taking her to St. Eustatius, discharging her 
cargo and, after delivering her up to her new 
owners, taking passage to St. Kitts (St. Chris- 
topher) and from thence in the schooner Nep- 
tune, Captain Staples, to Newburyport, where 
he arrived in May. 

That Brown's career may well be termed 
" But a single, continuous, uninterrupted voy- 
age " is emphasized by the fact that he made 
three more voyages before the close of this year, 
all of them to Halifax, returning to his home in 
Newburyport January 1, 1760. 
[44] 



WHAT APPRENTICESHIP MEANT 

Early in 1760, having been promoted to the 
rank of mate, he sailed in the Sea Nymph for 
St. Kitts, where the vessel was sold. Going to 
Nevis, he records that " We bought a sloop in 
which I came home to Newburyport with Cap- 
tain Nathaniel Green. In July I sailed in the 
sloop Ranger for Boston and Louisburgh, and 
returned in twenty days ; repeated the same trip 
in August. October 12th, I shipped aboard a 
schooner under Captain Edward Williams as 
mate for Quebec, which voyage was completed 
in seven weeks and returned to Newburyport." 

To those young men of the twentieth cen- 
tury who think their lot, in starting in busi- 
ness, is a hard one, it will be a consolation (per- 
haps) to read the following Indenture by 
which many of their forefathers were bound out 
in servitude. We have not the original instru- 
ment with which Moses Brown was apprenticed 
but we have a copy of the regular formula used 
in those days, in this style of legal procedure 
and it, undoubtedly, covers the salient features 
of Moses Brown's apprenticeship. The orig- 
[45] 



NEWBURYPORT 

inal is in the possession of Charles Wellesley 
Allen, of Brooklyn, N. Y., to whom the writer 
is indebted for the following copy: 

SMS 'gnAl^ntnXZf WITNESSETH, That John 
Goedersoon, now aged fourteen years, eight months and 
twenty-seven days, by and with the consent of his step- 
father, John Wright, and his mother, Mary Wright, hath 
put himself and, by these presents, doth voluntarily and 
of his own free will and accord, put himself Apprentice 
to Frederick Seely of the City of New York, Cord- 
wainer [old-fashioned name for shoemaker], and after 
the manner of an Apprentice to serve from the day of 
the date hereof for and during, and until the full end 
and term of six years, three months and three days next 
ensuing; during all which time the said Apprentice his 
master faithfully shall serve, his secrets keep, his com- 
mands everywhere readily obey. 

He shall do no damage to his said Master nor see 
it done by others, without letting or giving notice thereof 
to his said Master. He shall not waste his said Master's 
goods nor lend unlawfully to any. He shall not con- 
tract matrimony within the said term; at Cards, Dice or 
any unlawful game he shall not play, whereby his Master 
may have damages. With his own goods nor the goods 
of others, without license from his said Master .... 
He shall neither buy nor sell. He shall not absent him- 
self, day nor night, from his said master's service with- 
out leave nor haunt ale-houses, taverns or play-houses; 
but in all things behave as a faithful Apprentice ought 
to do, during the said term. 

[46] 



BOUND OUT IN SERVITUDE 

And the said Master shall use the utmost of his 
endeavors to teach, or cause to be taught or instructed, 
the said Apprentice in the trade, or mystery, of a Cord- 
wainer [shoemaker] and procure and provide for him 
sufficient meat, drink, washing, lodging and clothing 
fit for an apprentice, during the said term of service 
and four quarters of night schooling during the said 
term. 

And for the true performance of all and singular 
the Covenants and Agreements aforesaid, the said parties 
bind themselves each unto the other firmly by these 
presents. IN WITNESS WHEREOF the said parties 
have interchangeably set their hands and seals hereunto. 
Dated the sixth day of August, in the thirty-fifth year of 
the Independence of the United States of America and 
in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and eleven. 
Sealed and delivered in 
the presence of 
l. cowdrey 

Frederick Seely 
John Goedersoon 
Maria Wright 
Jahan Wright. 



[47] 



CHAPTER III 

HIS FIRST SEA FIGHT 

IT was In the year 1761, when he was in 
his nineteenth year, that Moses Brown ex- 
perienced the first of his many sea fights. 
He records that he " Passed a very agreeable 
winter (1760-1761) at home, taking care of 
and rigging the schooner Phoebe, in which I 
sailed in March, 1761, with Captain James 
Robinson in His Majesty's service for Halifax." 
England, at this time, was assembling a fleet 
with which to attack French possessions in the 
West Indies and it was to this expedition that 
Brown now found himself attached. 

The account of his adventures — which so 
nearly resulted in his death — is given as follows : 
" The fleet having sailed for New York, was 
immediately watered by the king's ships lying 
there and was ordered to follow them, which 
[48] 



BATTLE WITH FRENCH PRIVATEERS 

we did. On our arrival at New York we found 
the fleet lying in the Narrows. We went to the 
city, took in our wood and provisions and re- 
turned to the fleet ; taking on board a company 
of Highlanders belonging to Eraser's regiment 
and sailed on the third of April for the West 
Indies." 

Soon after leaving port the great fleet was 
overtaken by a violent gale, in which the little 
Phoebe became separated and continued on her 
passage alone. While in this precarious con- 
dition she fell in with two French privateers 
and, notwithstanding the odds against her. 
Captain Robinson began an action. Unfor- 
tunately, Brown does not give us the details 
of this fight further than to say that " Captain 
Robinson, our lieutenant and myself were 
wounded, besides several others ; and seven of 
the crew were killed." Brown's injury was 
caused by a musket shot in his arm above the 
elbow. 

Evidently the Phoehe managed to beat off^ 
her antagonists, for Brown records : " Two days 
[49] 



HIS FIRST SEA FIGHT 

after we arrived at Guadeloupe I went into 
the hospital and remained there two months." 
Guadeloupe was captured from the French, 
April 27, 1759, by the Enghsh, and it remained 
a British possession until 176B. Meantime, the 
great fleet had captured Dominica and arrived 
at Pointe Petre " where, in September, I got on 
board again, my wound being healed," and soon 
returned home. 

But Brown was not permitted to remain idle 
for he had not been in Newburyport more than 
a few days when, in October, he sailed for An- 
tigua, " where we spent some time and then 
took troops for the capture of Martinique and 
were ordered to Barbadoes to join the fleet." 
But in beating against the wind, in her en- 
deavor to carry out this order, the Phoehe 
sprung her mainmast and, on being towed into 
Basseterre, St. Kitts, was discharged from 
Government service as unfit for duty. 

After lying idle at this place some time, the 
Phoehe, in December, went to St. Eustatius 
and on the third of February, 1762, sailed for 
[50] 



SCENE OF SOME OF 

MOSEa BROWN'3 
EARX^Y VOVAGE5 




HIS FIRST SEA FIGHT 

home. But ill luck still clung to the unfortu- 
nate Phoehe, for Brown writes : " After beating 
on the coast [of New England] for some time 
and provisions being scant, we put off and ar- 
rived in St. Kitts in April [nearly two months 
after leaving St. Eustatius for their homeward 
passage] where we careened and refitted the 
vessel and took a freight of rum for Ports- 
mouth. Sailed on the 6th of June and in the 
same month arrived in Newburyport after a 
tedious voyage of sixteen months." 

The " tedious voyage of sixteen months," 
however, did not prevent Brown from again 
getting on his favorite element for, in the same 
month of his return home, June, he again sailed 
in the Phoebe with Captain Lowell for Antigua 
where the cargo was sold and she proceeded to 
St. Martin. At this place they loaded with 
salt and sailed for home, arriving at Newbury- 
port in December. 

It was in June, 1763, that Moses Brown 
completed his apprenticeship but there being 
" little business during the winter I tarried at 
[52] 



SMUGGLING 

home." In April, however, he shipped with his 
old master, Captain Coffin, in the Phoebe. 
" Went eastward and loaded for the West 
Indies, and returned home from Guadeloupe in 
December." 

About this time (1764) British revenue cut- 
ters were unusually vigilant — and, in many 
cases, were unnecessarily harsh — in checking a 
smuggling trade that had sprung up along 
the coast. Believing that the taxes imposed 
upon them by the mother country were unjust, 
the spirited colonists saw no wrong in running 
in their cargoes, whenever they could, without 
paying the duty. Brown, like most of his pro- 
fession, felt no scruple in evading these taxes 
for he records : " In March, 1764, sailed again 
in the Phoebe for Guadeloupe and arrived in 
Newburyport in July. Smuggled our cargo 
and went to the eastward for a load of wood 
and returned again in August." 

One of Moses Brown's characteristics was his 
fondness for children. It is said of him that 
frequently he would go with them in their ex- 
[53] 



HIS FIRST SEA FIGHT 

cursions on water ; and at his Thanksgiving fes- 
tival would have a lot of them at his table in 
preference to any other company. 

This trait is clearly brought out in a letter 
Brown wrote while in command of the United 
States sloop-of-war Merrimac in our naval war 
with France. It was written to the wife of his 
son William, the spelling and punctuation 
being as near the original as possible: 

Merrimack at sea. febuary ye 1799 

My dear Chil^ this will serve to inform you I am 
well hope this will find you and all our family conections 
the Same my crew in generall are healthy. I have come 
from Martin (i) CO through the islands to St. Thomases 
with a convoy of fifty Sail some of which I left at St. 
cruz and St. Thomases which last place I left with forty- 
two sail bound to diflfnt parts of America you may 

think there is an honnor in this business but there is 

more Trouble to keep them together on leaving my 

convoy I shall Return to my Station to windward as my 
Ship Sails fast — I donte expect much Idle bread I 
have been but four days at a time in port since my 
Arival at ye Rendzvous— my kind Regards to all 
fri(e)nds and am yr Affec father 

M. Browk 
My blessing on yr little pratlers 
tell them Granpah hante forgot them. 
[54] 



NEARLY BURIED ALIVE 

Moses had now entered upon his twenty-third 
year and, having accumulated a moderate sum 
of money, he married Sarah Coffin of Newbury- 
port, September 6, 1764. After a honeymoon 
of one week he sailed in the sloop Merrimac^ 
Captain William Friend, for Antigua. The 
round voyage was completed in eight weeks 
and returning to Newburyport he spent the 
winter with his wife and friends. In April, 

1765, he sailed for Martinique, again under 
Captain Friend, and returned to Newburyport 
in September. It was in the following voyage, 
begun in December, that Moses Brown came as 
near entering Davy Jones' locker as any man 
ever did — and return alive. 

On his passage home from Martinique, April, 

1766, he was taken with the smallpox. The 
disease made such rapid progress that when he 
was several days from home the patient was 
pronounced dead. His body was sewed can- 
vas, heavy shot were attached to his feet so as 
to insure sinking and the body was placed on 
a board which protruded out of a gun port 

[55] 



HIS FIRST SEA FIGHT 

ready to slide its freight into the sea. A crude 
burial service was read over the remains and the 
word had been given to uplift the inboard end 
of the plank when Captain Friend thought he 
detected signs of life through the coarse cover- 
ing. He shouted out: 

" Belay there, my lads ! That man is not 
dead!" 

Hastily cutting open the canvas they were 
soon convinced that Brown was not dead and, 
taking him to his berth, they nursed him back 
to health. 

Nothing daunted by this " close call," Moses 
continued his voyages to various parts of the 
West Indies, with an occasional run up to Hali- 
fax for coal. Early in 1768 he had a decidedly 
unpleasant experience in his ill-starred craft 
— the Phoehe. He had loaded with fish and 
had sailed for the West Indies, February, 1768, 
and when some days out his vessel sprang aleak, 
so that he was obliged to cut open his hogs- 
heads and throw the fish into the sea; there 
being six feet of water in the hold. With diffi- 
[56] 



FOUNDERING AT SEA 

culty he managed to reach Nevis and returned 
to Newburyport with a whole skin. 

From this time on, until the beginning of 
hostilities with the mother country, his venture- 
some voyages were made with varying success, 
mostly to the West Indies. Under date of 
January, 1772, he notes : " Sailed again for 
Port au Prince. On the passage I lost my 
bowsprit and eleven horses. Arrived at Port 
au Prince and found the port closed against 
the English. Entered in distress and after the 
usual ceremonies got permission to sell my 
cargo, which I did and took in a cargo of 
molasses and returned home. 

" My owner's son choosing to go in the vessel, 
I quit and tarried at home three months. In 
September I sailed in the brig Martha for the 
West Indies and returned in December. Got 
ready for sea again but was taken sick with 
measles — the brig went and left me." 

It was in September, 1773, that Moses Brown 
sailed on a voyage that — like many others — 
came near being his last. While on the pas- 
[57] 



HIS FIRST SEA FIGHT 

sage from St. Eustatius his craft sprang aleak 
and took in such large quantities of water that 
in half an hour she sank. Captain Brown had 
scarcely time in which to lower a boat and save 
himself and men. For seven days the frail shell 
was tossed about on the vast expanse of the 
Atlantic ; the men having left the ship so hastily 
that they did not get an adequate supply of 
provisions. When reduced almost to the last 
extremity they were picked up by the schooner 
Policy Captain Andrew May, from Philadel- 
phia. The castaways were landed at St. Cruz 
from which place Brown took passage in a 
sloop for Rhode Island, arriving at Martha's 
Vineyard in December. From this place he 
proceeded in the brig Marigold, Captain Jona- 
than Parsons, on the passage to Newburyport 
" but, being cast away on Saquash Beach, I 
took my land tacks and arrived at home Janu- 
ary 2, 1774, after an absence of fifteen 
months." 



[68] 



CHAPTER IV 



FROM the foregoing sketch of the early 
career of Moses Brown it will be seen 
that his preparation for the high and 
responsible duties of commander in a war-ship 
had been thorough and practical — if not aca- 
demic. 

At the time hostilities broke out between the 
American colonies and the mother country 
Moses Brown found himself on the other side of 
the Atlantic, and in a peculiarly dangerous 
position. The style in which he extricated him- 
self from impending danger is worthy of the 
best traditions of John Paul Jones and Gus- 
tavus Conyingham — his contemporaries. 

In order to appreciate fully the situation 
we must go back a year or so to November 18, 
1774, when he sailed for various ports in the 
[59] 



IN THE LION'S DEN 

West Indies. On this venture he disposed of 
his cargo with very poor success. He had now 
visited nearly every sea mart on this side of the 
Atlantic and determined to try his luck — and 
at the same time gratify a natural desire to see 
more of the world — on the other side of the 
ocean. Accordingly he sailed for North Caro- 
lina, loaded with pipe-staves (staves for a wine 
barrel usually containing two casks), made his 
way to Cadiz, where he sold his cargo, and took 
on a freight of flour. From that port he went 
to " Matro, where I landed the flour and took 
ballast and returned to Cadiz." 

Not finding a second freight at this place he 
purchased a load of salt and went to Falmouth, 
England, arriving there October, 1775 ; six 
months after the action at Lexington and four 
months after the battle of Bunker Hill. For- 
tunate it was for Moses that news traveled 
slowly in those days. Disposing of his cargo 
at this place he chartered his vessel to some 
British merchants to load with pilchards (a 
fish slightly larger than the herring) for Venice. 
[60] 



scBNE. or 

M0SE5 BR012ZN:3 
IN THB OI/D "WORLD 



UMERIC 
FALMOi 



CFINNI5TERRE, 



OPORTi 



3tMICHAEL5 



MADDRA^ois 



CAPEVET2D] 
ISO. 




LISBOM 



IN THE LION'S DEN 

Sailing from Falmouth, November 18th, Brown 
arrived at Venice in January, 1776, where he 
delivered his cargo and " spent ten weeks in 
seeing the shows of the city, it being carnival 
time and no business done." 

While Brown was thus innocently enjoying 
some of the pleasures of Hfe, Parliament en- 
acted that all American property found on the 
high seas should be seized and condemned for 
the benefit of the British exchequer. Appa- 
rently, this was the first intimation Captain 
Brown had had of the seriousness of the rupture 
between the American colonies and the mother 
country. He had visited Falmouth and Venice 
without attempting to conceal his identity and 
now he was suddenly aroused from his dream 
of pleasure to find the hungry, wolfish 
eyes of rival carriers fixed upon his cozy 
brig. 

As must have been apparent to the intelli- 
gent reader of the preceding pages, Moses 
Brown was not an ordinary man. He pos- 
sessed, to a large degree, Yankee " resourceful- 
[62] 



LEAPING OUT OF A TRAP 

ness " ; added to which was a share of audacity 
which enabled him to leap out of the trap in 
which he so suddenly found himself. It was 
not his nature to dodge peril. Ordinarily we 
might have expected that he would have wiggled 
his craft out of the harbor of Venice under 
cover of night or by some other subterfuge and 
then have taken his chances of making his way 
safely to some American port. 

This, however, was not after the style of 
Moses Brown. He boldly faced the peril and 
took the bull by the horns. Making a sham 
sale of his vessel he chartered her to load with 
currants at Zante and Cephalonia for London; 
actually arriving at the last port in July, 1776 
— four months after the British had been driven 
out of Boston and a month after the Americans 
had repulsed Sir Peter Parker's fleet with such 
disastrous losses to the enemy at Charleston, 
S. C! 

Captain Brown, of course, learned of these 
momentous events while his tight little New 
England craft was snugly moored in the 
[63] 



IN THE LION'S DEN 

Thames but, so far was he from being per- 
turbed or alarmed, he records : " After deliver- 
ing my freight I sold my brig for eight hundred 
pounds and spent two months in seeing the 
fashions of London " ! 

Having enjoyed his good English money to 
the extent of his desire, Brown took passage in 
the brig Norton for St. Eustatius from which 
place he proceeded to Philadelphia in a pilot 
boat commanded by George May — ^brother to 
Andrew May, who had rescued Brown and his 
crew from a watery grave when his ill-fated 
craft foundered at sea three years before. 
Captain Brown now learned, for the first time, 
that his kind rescuer, Andrew May, had ven- 
tured on another voyage and had not since been 
heard from. 

After a brief stay in Philadelphia Brown 
purchased a horse and sulky and set out on a 
" land cruise," bound for New York. This 
short run of only ninety miles proved to be one 
of the most exciting and perilous voyages the 
weather-beaten mariner had yet made. He had 
[64] 



A " PERILOUS " LAND VOYAGE 
traveled thousands and thousands of miles over 
the sea but never before had made formal com- 
plaint about " roads being bad," though we 
know that at times he found the waves 
exceeding rough, not to say " topsy- 
turvy." 

But it is ever different with an old salt when 
on land. Then your true-blooded sailor " lets 
himself loose." He feels that he has a right 
to find all the fault he desires and on this occa- 
sion Moses exercised his privilege to the fullest 
limit. He could steer his ship over mountain- 
like waves, in the heaviest gales, on the darkest 
night, with unerring accuracy and with un- 
ruffled temper. But with this kind of a land 
craft — a mere horse and sulky — he had no end 
of fault to find. " The roads," he declared, 
" were very bad." When Brown put his helm 
hard to port the obstinate nag persisted in 
taking the wrong direction. When Brown 
crowded on all sail for a quick run over a clear 
waste of land, the animal would gather stem- 
board. When the exasperated sailor trimmed 
[65] 



IN THE LION'S DEN 

his yards to catch a spanking breeze, ten points 
off the quarter, the beast would go off on the 
opposite leg. 

Brown does not say so in his diary but we 
can easily infer that the doughty sea-captain 
lost his temper with such unseaman-like tactics. 
The result was that the horse took matters in 
his own hoofs, kicked in the dashboard, cap- 
sized the sulky and threw Moses out with such 
force as to dislocate his right shoulder. Brown 
fails to record how he eventually reached home 
but he does say that this " land passage " from 
Philadelphia to Newburyport took seventeen 
days, he rejoining his family, December 21, 
1776, in good time for Christmas, having 
been absent two years, one month and three 
days. 

As Mr. Samuel Swett, in his sketch of 
Brown's life, observed, after noting his mishap 
with the nag : " And no doubt Captain Brown 
arrived at the same conclusion that an hon- 
est seaman did, who happened to be caught 
on shore at Edinburgh in a gale ; and when the 
[66] 



A SAILOR'S SOLILOQUY 

tiles from the lofty roofs were rattling about 
his head, exclaimed, ' What a fool a man is 
to stay on shore in a storm, when he might go 
to sea and be safe.' " 



[67] 



CHAPTER V 

FIRST COMMAND OF A WAR-SHIP 

/4 T the beginning of our struggle for inde- 
/—% pendence the New England colonies were 
especially active in fitting out armed 
craft for the avowed purpose of preying on 
British commerce. Continental Congress at 
Philadelphia, early in the war, authorized the 
capture of English vessels and property wher- 
ever found on the high seas. Colonial legis- 
latures, on their own responsibility, took steps 
in the same direction while Washington him- 
self, in his capacity as commander-in-chief of 
the American Army, issued commissions for 
several armed vessels, owned by Massachusetts, 
with a view to intercepting military supplies for 
the British at Boston and Quebec. 

So successful were some of these ventures, 
in the first eighteen months of the war, that 
[68] 



FORMIDABLE PRIVATEERS 

nearly a regiment of British soldiers was cap- 
tured on the high seas and a large quantity 
of war-like stores were diverted from their orig- 
inal destination to the use of the rebelling 
colonists. 

At first the Americans sent out only small 
craft — any merchantman that could be hastily 
armed and fitted to attack the enemy. But as 
the war progressed a number of private ves- 
sels, especially adapted for the purpose, mount- 
ing from twenty to thirty guns and manned by 
crews numbering from one hundred to two hun- 
dred men — veritable corvets — were built and 
commissioned. In some instances these power- 
ful ships made successful attacks on the regular 
cruisers of the royal navy. 

A number of these war-ships were named 
after the leading American generals, such as 
the General Arnold, General Hancock, General 
Mercer, General Mifflin, General Montgomery, 
General Pickering, General Putnam and Gen- 
eral Washington. The General Arnold be- 
longed to Newburyport, from which place she 
[69] 



FIRST COMMAND OF A WAR-SHIP 

was commissioned in 1778. Captain Brown's 
connection with her in her eventful career is 
modestly described by the hero in his diary. 

As we have seen, Brown arrived at Newbury- 
port after his tempestuous " land passage of 
seventeen days " from Philadelphia, December 
21, 1776. " Finding our country all in arms, 
I tarried at home till April, 1777, when I took 
command of the brig Harmah and sailed for 
the West Indies. But in forty-eight hours we 
were captured by the British 32-gun frigate 
Diamond and, of course, I passed some time 
aboard a prison ship at Rhode Island." 

How he got out of this confinement Brown 
does not state but it is inferential that it was 
by an exchange of prisoners for he says : " In 
July I returned home. In August I took com- 
mand of the ship General Arnold, then at Ports- 
mouth, N. H., for a voyage to Bordeaux." 
The General Arnold belonged to Nathaniel 
Tracy of Newburyport. 

Captain Brown's first experiences with this 
private-armed cruiser were even more discourag- 
[70] 



AN INDUCEMENT TO MUTINY 
ing than those he had faced in his brief career 
in the Hannah, His troubles began even be- 
fore he sailed for he says : " Being ready for 
sea in November, I discovered that there was a 
conspiracy among my crew to murder me and 
all my officers and to take the ship to Halifax." 
Doubtless, there were British seamen in the 
General Arnold's complement who, with some of 
the unconscionable adventurers who were fre- 
quently found in almost every ship's company 
in those unsettled times, had conceived the idea 
of capturing the ship as soon as she cleared 
port and of turning her over to the enemy. 

This seems the more plausible when we re- 
member that British naval authorities on the 
North American station at that time held out 
special inducements for British sailors — and, 
in fact, to anyone who would perform the 
treachery — to rise on officers in American ships 
and seize the craft — a substantial reward being 
offered if they carried the prize into a British 
harbor or turned it over to an English naval 
force at sea. 

[71] 



FIRST COMMAND OF A WAR-SHIP 

Fortunately, Captain Brown detected the 
plot before it could be carried into execution 
and, throwing the ringleaders into prison, he 
sailed the General Arnold to Newburyport 
where he unloaded her, took off her upper deck 
and, placing eighteen 6-pounders aboard, fitted 
her out for a general privateering cruise. 
These extensive alterations occupied the winter 
of 1777-1778, so that it was not until in the 
following summer that she got to sea. 

Of course, the first thing a prudent com- 
mander in a new war-ship would do was to 
make sure that his armament was in good con- 
dition. The eighteen 6-pounders Captain 
Brown had placed aboard had never been tested, 
so far as he knew, and with a view to trying 
them he ordered — soon after leaving port — 
the battery to be manned. The first gun that 
was fired burst, killing or wounding all of the 
officers. 

It is in this disastrous incident that we have 
an illustration of the affection Captain Brown 
always managed to inspire in his worthy men 
[72] 



"I'LL DIE DIRECTLY, SIR" 

for himself. The episode is supplied by a man 
who was in the privateer at the time. One of 
the persons injured was an Irishman and, be- 
lieving that his injury was fatal, he called for 
Captain Brown saying that he wished to speak 
with him. The Captain went below to see what 
his request might be when the man said that he 
knew he was going to die and begged that he 
might not be " thrown overboard like a dog " 
but might have prayers read over him. Cap- 
tain Brown, after failing to inspire him with 
hope of recovery, assented to his request say- 
ing: 

" Very well, Pat. I will tell Mr. Blank to 
read prayers for you." 

It seems that this " Mr. Blank " was not 
popular with some of the crew and had es- 
pecially aroused the ire of this Irishman. When 
Pat heard that this same " Mr. Blank " was 
to perform the last rites over him, he half rose 
from his bunk and remarked: 

" No, faith, no ! Then I shall not die ; Mr. 
Blank shall never read prayers over me ! " 
[73] 



FIRST COMMAND OF A WAR-SHIP 

Realizing that the man was in earnest in the 
matter, Captain Brown promised that he would 
read the prayers himself. With a gleam of 
satisfaction stealing over his honest features, 
Pat sank back on his rude couch and said: 

"God bless ye. Captain. Then Til die 
directly." 

After such a disastrous experience with the 
battery on the first trial, there was nothing to 
do but to return to Newburyport and test the 
remaining guns under conditions where an ex- 
plosion would harm neither the ship nor her 
people. This, accordingly, was done and, land- 
ing his armament. Captain Brown " proved " 
them with the result that four more burst. The 
remaining guns were then discarded and, secur- 
ing new ones. Captain Brown, in August, again 
put to sea. After scouring the ocean for three 
months, in places where he was most likely to 
fall in with British merchantmen, he returned 
to Newburyport in November, 1778, having 
made only one prize, a brig; and that was re- 
taken by the enemy before it could reach port. 
[74] 



CHAPTER VI 



A MONG the papers left by Captain Moses 
r-^ Brown is an account of an action 
fought between the United States pri- 
vateer General Arnold and a British armed ship 
which seems to have been entirely overlooked in 
our historical literature and official records. 
After exhaustive researches the writer has been 
able to gather sufficient corroborative material 
from independent sources, not only to clearly 
establish the fact that such a battle was fought 
but that the privateer was engaged in another 
action, of smaller importance, to be sure, but 
none the less valuable historically and of inter- 
est to the reading public. 

So far as previously established accounts have 
gone, it is only known that on January 7, 
1779, one of the newest and best of our armed 
[75] 



A " WARM BATTLE " 
craft, the 20-gun brig General Arnold, Captain 
J. Magee, of Massachusetts, was driven ashore 
near Plymouth and seventy-five of her comple- 
ment of one hundred and twenty men perished. 
This is the only authoritative record we have 
had of this formidable privateer. It is given in 
Lieutenant Emmons' " Statistical History of 
the United States Navy," published in 1850. 

Lieutenant Emmons spent several years^ 
under the direction of the Navy Department, 
in gathering all possible data bearing on our 
early navy, and published a most valuable com- 
pendium of our maritime career from the earli- 
est records down to the date of publication. 
That he was entirely in error in regard to the 
General Arnold — though his work in general 
is remarkably accurate — ^is here shown most 
conclusively. From the data dug up in the 
Brown papers, and from other reliable sources, 
the writer is able to give a complete account of 
the interesting career of this vessel. 

It was in his third cruise in the General 
Arnold that Captain Brown's perseverance, in 
[76] 



A MODEST REPORT 

the face of appalling difficulties, enabled him 
to fight a battle that was highly creditable to 
his professional career and to the pluck and 
determination of the men under his command. 
Were we to rely on Captain Brown himself for 
an account of this brilliant achievement we 
would be left almost as much in the dark as 
before but, fortunately, we have several records 
from English sources and from eye-witnesses 
which throw a flood of light on these impor- 
tant sea fights. 

In his diary Captain Brown modestly dis- 
misses the incident in these few words : " In 
February [1779] I sailed on a third cruise in 
the General Arnold. After cruising four 
months, taking several prizes and fighting 
some warm battles, I was captured by His 
Majesty's ship Experiment of fifty guns. Sir 
James Wallace, commander, June [1779], and 
was escorted to Madeira, thence to Savannah 
in Georgia where I had my second degree on 
board a prison ship." 

The journal of Thomas Greele, who was sail- 
[77] 



A " WARM BATTLE " 

ing-master in the General Arnold, the " narra- 
tive " of Ignatius Webber, who was prize- 
master in the same vessel, and a copy of the 
official report of Captain Thomas Beynon 
(as published in an English newspaper of the 
day) who was commander of one of the British 
ships engaged, have been unearthed and throw 
some really valuable side-lights on this remark- 
able cruise which Captain Brown so modestly 
dismisses with : " taking several prizes and 
fighting some warm battles." 

Instead of giving these various narratives 
separately the writer will endeavor to weave a 
continuous account of the venture in his own 
words. Thomas Greele gives us our starting 
point of this cruise when he entered in his jour- 
nal : " February 25, 1779. Sailed from Cape 
Ann " and, in the next entry, under date of 
March 4th, he noted that : " Samuel Dyer, the 
cook, died." 

Whether or not the early loss of the knight 
of the ship's galley was taken by the gallant 
tars in the General Arnold as presaging ill- 
[78] 



HIS HIGHNESS,— THE SEA-COOK 

luck on this venture, we have no means of know- 
ing. We do know, however, that among sea- 
men of that day the sea-cook occupied a posi- 
tion of importance (in the estimation of the 
ship's company) second only to that held by the 
commander himself. No landlubber can fully 
appreciate the tender solicitude true-blue sailors 
have for the ship's cook. He was a privileged 
character and could take liberties which no 
other member of the crew would dare to at- 
tempt. The officers, and even the captain him- 
self, were exceedingly deferential to this august 
person and when the United States cruiser 
Reprisal foundered at sea, 1777, all hands per- 
ishing excepting the cook, it was generally re- 
garded among sailor folk as being another 
beautiful manifestation of a benign Providence. 
Singularly enough, in the action between the 
General Arnold and Nanny y the only person 
killed was the Nanny* s cook. 

At all events, the death of the General Ar- 
nold's cook did not check her quest for British 
gore; but it is somewhat remarkable that, 
[79] 



A " WARM BATTLE " 

shortly after this loss, the brig began to de- 
velop alarming defects in her spars which, in 
a large degree, militated against her efficiency 
in the battle royal which was so soon to follow. 
On March 11th, seven days after Dyer's death, 
the mainmast was found to be sprung and two 
days later the foremast developed the same 
weakness. 

In spite of these discouragements, Captain 
Brown continued to push his way over the At- 
lantic and, at six o'clock Sunday morning, 
March 28th, sighted land which proved to be 
St. Michael's of the Western Islands ; distant 
nine or ten miles, bearing south-southeast. As 
the weather was a little hazy at the time, it 
had not been discovered until the ship was quite 
close inshore and about the same time a large 
sail was descried in the shadow of St. Mi- 
chael's which immediately put about and gave 
chase to the venturesome privateer from the 
New World. Notwithstanding the fact that 
his two masts had been sprung — and conse- 
quently all his spars and rigging in a precari- 
[80] 



AT CLOSE QUARTERS 

ous condition — Captain Brown, after having 
satisfied himself that the stranger was not a 
regular man-of-war, allowed her to draw near. 
" At about ten o'clock," wrote Ignatius 
Webber, " she hove out English colors, we at 
the same time showing American. She began to 
fire bow chase guns. At eleven o'clock we came 
to a general engagement which continued about 
four glasses [two hours ; but, according to the 
account of Sailing-Master Greele, the action 
lasted " two hours and fifteen minutes "] the 
General Arnold being the weathermost ship. 
Captain Brown had determined to bear down 
and lay her close aboard, notwithstanding the 
fact that she was greatly superior in force and 
bulk to the Yankee. We bore down upon her ; 
she at the same time bore away with several of 
her guns disabled. She having greatly the ad- 
vantage in sailing and Captain Brown, per- 
ceiving that she was going from us, ordered the 
guns to be well loaded and, rounding-to, gave 
her the contents of the broadside which raked 
her fore and aft." 

[81] 



A " WARM BATTLE " 

It was here that the springing of the Gen- 
eral Arnold's masts worked to her detriment 
for, although her spars and rigging had been 
badly cut up, Captain Brown was so well satis- 
fied that he had defeated the enemy that he 
was anxious to continue the fight. He made 
every effort to again come within gunshot but 
was unable to do so, as the comparatively unin- 
jured state of the stranger's masts and sails 
enabled her to escape. 

All through the action it seems to have been 
the Englishman's aim to cripple the General 
Arnold's rigging while the American gunners 
devoted most of their attention to the enemy's 
hull; with the result that, while the Americans 
had scarcely a man killed or wounded, their 
rigging had been cut to pieces so they could 
make little headway in a chase. The English- 
man suffered heavily in killed and wounded 
but his spars and rigging were almost intact. 

Shortly afterward Captain Brown learned 
that his antagonist was the British privateer 
Gregson, from Liverpool, mounting twenty 12- 
[82] 



A COMPLIMENT 

pounders and manned by one hundred and 
eighty men — nearly double the force of the 
General Arnold, which carried only 6-pounders. 
From an account published in an English news- 
paper the Americans learned that the Gregson 
had had her first lieutenant and seventeen men 
killed and a number wounded. The British 
commander reported that he had had a battle 
with " A rebel frigate of thirty-two guns and 
beat her off." 

It certainly is an unbiased compliment to the 
efficiency of the General Arnold's gunners that 
they wielded their battery of 6-pounders 
against the 12-pounders of their opponent with 
such effect as to induce the commander of the 
Gregson to honestly believe that he had been 
fighting a 32-gun frigate. After the action, 
the Gregson put into St. Michael's to recu- 
perate. 



[83] 



CHAPTER VII 

A FORGOTTEN SEA EIGHT 

ON the day following her desperate en- 
gagement with the privateer Gregson, 
the General Arnold hovered off St. 
Michael's at a distance of about nine miles 
hoping that her antagonist might come out 
and bring the fight to a finish. But in this 
Captain Brown was disappointed and, after 
having repaired his extensive injuries the best 
he could in the open sea, he resumed his search 
for British traders. 

On April 4th he had the good fortune to fall 
in with the valuable English merchant ship 
William, John Gregory, master, which had re- 
cently sailed from Gibraltar bound for New 
York. Placing Samuel Robinson and a prize 
crew aboard, with directions to make the best 
of their way to a home port, the ships parted 
[84] 



"GENTLEMEN SAILORS" 

company — the William arriving safely in New- 
buryport a few weeks later. 

That the discipline of a regular man-of-war 
was maintained aboard the General Arnold is 
evidenced by the fact that a part of her crew 
were especially enlisted as " marines " or soldiers 
who serve aboard fighting craft to maintain 
order and to uphold the authority of the officers. 
Thomas Greele, in his journal under date April 
7th, notes : " WilHam Johnson, officer of the 
marines, died." 

In nearly all New England seaports at this 
time a number of adventure-loving young men 
— usually of respectable parentage — were to 
be found who were ready to embark on any 
devil-daring enterprise that gave promise of 
excitement and pecuniary remuneration. They 
were generally known as " gentlemen sailors." 
As a rule they were proficient in the use of fire- 
arms, had more or less knowledge of infantry 
tactics and enlisted as "marines" — perform- 
ing the customary guard duty while the drudg- 
ery of ship work was left to those who enlisted 
[85] 



A FORGOTTEN SEA FIGHT 

as sailors. That the General Arnold had a 
regularly enhsted corps of " marines " aboard 
is evidence of her excellent arrangement and of 
the discipline maintained throughout the brig. 

Under the same date Greele notes that 
" Thomas Brown fell overboard and was 
drowned " and, five days later, he adds : " Wil- 
liam Cooper fell overboard — but we got him 
again." 

On the 19th of April the General Arnold 
dropped anchor in the harbor of Coruna where 
she remained, replenishing her ammunition and 
repairing her damages, until May 19th when 
she again put to sea. For a month the priva- 
teer knocked about the broad Atlantic without 
falling in with anything worth taking but, at 
six o'clock on the morning of May 20th, with 
Cape Finisterre bearing southwest distant some 
twenty-four miles, a sail showed up above the 
horizon. In a moment all was attention and 
interest aboard the war craft as she pricked 
up her ears and prepared to crawl stealthily 
upon her supposed prey. 
[86] 



AT CLOSE QUARTERS 

It was not long before the swift-sailing 
American came within observing distance when 
it was evident that the stranger was an enemy. 
All doubt on this point was soon dispelled as 
she, soon afterward, showed English colors 
and the Americans responded with theirs. The 
two vessels seemed to be evenly matched and 
their commanders went through a series of 
maneuvers with a view to gaining the most 
advantageous position for beginning the at- 
tack. After this preliminary " sparring " had 
lasted a few moments the two ships came to 
close quarters, the first broadsides being almost 
simultaneous. 

The Americans resorted to their old tactics 
of firing into the enemy's hull while the English 
aimed high and soon played havoc with the 
privateer's masts, spars and rigging. The 
accuracy and regularity of American gunnery 
have seldom been shown to better advantage 
than in this action. After a struggle lasting 
about an hour the stranger surrendered but she 
had been so riddled with shot, close to the water 
[87] 



A FORGOTTEN SEA FIGHT 

line, that she sank in a short time after lower- 
ing her colors — her crew, numbering fifty-seven 
men all told, scarcely having time in which to 
get into their boats. 

She proved to be the English privateer 
Nanny, of three hundred and fifty tons, com- 
manded by Thomas Beynon, from Liverpool 
laden with coal for Oporto. She carried six- 
teen 9- and 6-pounders. That Captain Beynon 
had made a heroic defense is attested, not only 
by the circumstance that his own ship sank in 
a short time after her surrender but by the 
fact that he had inflicted irreparable injury on 
his antagonist. The General Arnold'' s foreyard 
had been shot away and was on the forecastle, 
while her mainmast, yards and rigging had 
been severely damaged. It really seemed fated 
that Captain Brown was destined to receive 
little but hard knocks with little remuneration 
on this cruise. 

Nine days after the action, Captain Brown 
fell in with a Spanish brig bound for Cadiz and 
very kindly placed Captain Beynon and two 
[88] 



THE BRITON'S PLUCKY FIGHT 

other prisoners aboard so they could report the 
engagement to the owners of the Nanny, In 
his official report of the action dated at Cadiz, 
June 2, 1779, Beynon gives a manly and 
graphic account of his misfortune, besides some 
interesting details of the way the Americans 
used " fire-pots " or large packages of powder 
hung at their yard arms which were to be 
dropped onto the enemy's deck when at close 
quarters and cause a conflagration. 

Captain Beynon says : " On the 20th of May, 
when off^ Cape Finisterre, we saw a ship in pur- 
suit of us and, being resolved to know the weight 
of her metal before I gave up your property, 
I prepared to make the best defense I could. 
Between eight and nine o'clock he came along- 
side with American colors and three fire-pots 
out, one at each end of his foreyard arm and 
one at his jibboom end. He hailed and told 
me to haul down my colors. I told him to 
begin and blaze away for I was determined to 
know his force before I gave up to him. The 
battle began and lasted two hours, our ships 
[89] 



A FORGOTTEN SEA FIGHT 

being close together, having only room enough 
to keep clear of each other. 

" Our guns told well on both sides and we 
were soon left destitute of rigging and sails. 
As I engaged under topsails and jib we were 
soon shattered below and aloft. I got the 
Nanny before the wind and fought an hour 
that way, one pump going till we had seven 
feet of water in the hold. I thought it then 
almost time to give up the battle, as our ship 
was a long time in recovering her sallies and 
began to be water-logged. We were so close 
that I told him I had struck and then hauled 
down my colors. 

" The privateer [General Arnold^ was in a 
shattered condition. Her foreyard was shot 
away and lying on the forecastle; a piece was 
out of her mainmast so that he could make no 
sail until it was fished; all her running rigging 
was entirely gone and a great part of her 
shrouds and back stays. None of her sails es- 
caped injury except his mainsail. By the time 
we were out of the Nanny the water was up to 
[90] 



ONLY THE COOK KILLED 

her lower deck. When Captain Brown heard 
of the small number of men I had he asked me 
what I meant by engaging him so long. I 
told him I was then his prisoner and hoped 
he would not call me to account for what I had 
done before I hauled down my colors. He said 
that he approved of all that I had done and 
treated my officers and myself like gentlemen 
and my people as his own. 

" I had only two men wounded — and they 
with splinters. The cook, I believe, was 
drowned as he never came on board the priva- 
teer. Nothing was saved but the ensign and 
that was full of holes. We received sixty 
dozen musket shot from their marines, accord- 
ing to their own account, besides from their 
tops. The privateer had six men wounded and 
is the same that fought the Gregson of Liver- 
pool. I was put aboard a Spanish brig, and 
arrived at Cadiz." 



[91] 



T^ 



CHAPTER VIII 

A PRISONER OF WAR 

HE audacity of Captain Brown's at- 
■ tack on the Nanny is enhanced when 
it is learned that throughout the 
battle a fleet of sixty-eight English merchant- 
men, convoyed by eight ships-of-the-line and 
several frigates, were in plain sight. Three of 
the frigates made every effort to come upon 
the scene of action but, as the wind failed, they 
were compelled to remain helpless spectators 
of the drubbing the " impudent " Yankee was 
giving to their countrymen. 

It was fortunate, indeed, for the General 
Arnold that lack of wind prevented the frig- 
ates from coming up with her. As it was. 
Captain Brown made all haste to repair his 
shattered spars and, under cover of night, 

[9a] 



SIR JAMES WALLACE— GENTLEMAN 

availed himself of a fine breeze and by morn- 
ing had eluded the clutches of the fleet. 

Resuming his search for prizes, Captain 
Brown, on the 30th of May, captured the 
British merchantman George, Captain Willicat, 
from Newfoundland for Oporto. Ignatius 
Webber was placed aboard the George with a 
prize crew and was ordered to Coruna. " About 
a week afterward," records Webber, " I had the 
ill luck to be taken by three English cutters 
from Dover bound on a cruise to the Mediterra- 
nean. They all went into Oporto with their 
prize, it being the first they had taken." 

Three days after her capture of the George, 
the career of the privateer was cut short; she 
being captured by the 50-gun ship Experiment, 
Captain Sir James Wallace. It is related that 
when Captain Brown gained the deck of the 
Experiment, Sir James asked him if he was the 
" Captain of that rebel ship." Brown replied : 
" I was very lately ; you are now," and 
offered to surrender his sword. Captain Wal- 
lace refused to receive it, saying: 
[93] 



A PRISONER OF WAR 

" I never take a sword from a brave 
man." 

Sir James continued to extend every courtesy 
to his prisoner, treating him more as a guest. 
Taking Captain Brown into his private cabiuj 
where he met other officers of the ship, a gen- 
eral conversation followed (over the traditional 
" glass of wine " ) upon the affairs of the two 
countries when Sir James proposed as a toast 
'• His Majesty, King George the Third." It 
was rather hard for the doughty Yankee skip- 
per to accept but he swallowed his wine with- 
out remark. Sir James now called on Brown 
for a return toast — thinking, from Brown's 
silence, that he had acquiesced in the senti- 
ment and would respond with something of the 
like. Rising with much dignity and unawed 
by his position as a prisoner aboard a powerful 
enemy's war-ship, Captain Brown gave as a 
toast: 

" His Excellency, General George Washing- 
ton, the Commander-in-Chief of the American 
forces ! " 

[94] 



A TOAST TO WASHINGTON 

The glass which Sir James had raised to his 
lips was hastily lowered and, turning fiercely 
on his prisoner, he asked : 

" Do you mean to insult me, sir, in my own 
ship, by proposing the name of that arch 
rebel? " 

" No," replied Captain Brown. " If there 
was any insult it was in your giving, as a 
toast, ' George the Third,' which, however, I 
did not hesitate to drink to, although you must 
have known it could not be agreeable to me 
who, at this moment, am a guest though a 
prisoner." 

Sir James at once perceived that if there had 
been a breach of etiquette he had led the way 
and, like the honorable man he was, suppressed 
his anger and drank to that " arch rebel," 
Washington ! 

The Experiment escorted her prize to Ma- 
deira and from that place Sir James carried 
his prisoner to Savannah where Captain 
Brown was, for the third time, placed aboard a 
prison ship. Shortly afterward the Experiment 
[95] 



A PRISONER OF WAR 

was captured by the fleet under Count d'Es- 
taing. 

In November Brown was released, through an 
exchange of prisoners, and proceeded to 
Charleston, S. C, where he took passage in the 
ship Eustace, Captain Bishop, for Boston. 
The Eustace had proceeded on this voyage far 
enough to sight Rhode Island Light when she 
met a succession of terrific northeast gales 
which actually blew her all the way to St. 
Eustatius in the West Indies. In these storms 
the ship frequently was in danger of founder- 
ing and, by the time she gained the West Indian 
port, she had lost fourteen of her original crew 
of thirty-one men. 

Believing that he could make quicker time 
home by a different route, Captain Brown took 
passage from St. Eustatius in the brig Sailor's 
Delight, Captain David Coats, of Newburyport 
which vessel, after a fair run, put into Cape 
Ann Roads where Captain Brown landed, in- 
tending to make the rest of his way home by 
land. 

[96] 



A " LAND CRUISE " 

Rough as Captain Brown's experiences had 
been at sea, he seemed fated to receive severer 
usage whenever he ventured to set foot on terra 
firma. We remember his stormy " land voy- 
age " of seventeen days from Philadelphia to 
Boston, in which he and his horse could not 
agree — with the result that the gallant captain 
was thrown and had his shoulder dislocated. 
On this second " land cruise " Captain Brown 
again entrusted himself to the tender mercies 
of a horse — this time on its back. In the course 
of the " passage " from Cape Ann to New- 
buryport, the nag stumbled and, falling on 
Captain Brown, " bruised me very much." 

Captain Brown comments on his arrival at 
Newburyport as follows: 

" I arrived home after fourteen months, like 
the Frenchman at St. Eustatius, without money 
or goods; only one poor heart — and that was 
broken too." 



[97] 



CHAPTER IX 

PERILOUS TIMES FOR MERCHANTMEN 

WHAT was left of the winter of 1779- 
1780 was spent by Captain Brown 
in his cozy home in Newburyport 
and in April, 1780, he made a voyage in the brig 
Mercury to Amsterdam and returned in the, 
then, remarkably short time of four months — 
and in November he completed the round trip to 
Cape Fran9ois in seventy days. The voyage to 
Amsterdam was repeated in 1781 and, in the 
following year. Brown was placed in command 
of the splendid privateer Intrepid, owned and 
fitted out by Nathaniel Tracy of Newburyport, 
carrying twenty 12-pounders and a complement 
of one hundred and sixty men and boys. 

Captain Brown's first ofiicer in the Intrepid 
was Lieutenant Henry Lunt of the United 
States Navy. Lunt had just returned to his 
[98] 



JOHN PAUL JONES 

home in Newburyport after an absence of four 
years and seven months in the naval service. He 
had fought under John Paul Jones in the 
famous Bonhomme Richard-Serapis battle and 
was with Jones in the Alliance and Ariel. When 
Lunt left Philadelphia, in the winter of 1781, 
for his home he took with him an open letter 
of recommendation from Captain Jones and the 
owner of the Intrepid was glad to secure him. 

Soon after the Intrepid sailed, John Paul 
Jones himself came to Newburyport to inquire 
after his second lieutenant, Mr. Lunt, wishing to 
induce him to again enter the navy as a lieu- 
tenant in the splendid 74-gun ship-of-the-line 
America^ then nearly completed at Portsmouth. 
Captain Jones expressed much regret at not 
finding him. The America, subsequently, was 
presented to France in compensation for the 74- 
gun ship Magnifique, which had been lost in 
Boston harbor. Jones and Lunt were so nearly 
of the same size that their clothes fitted each 
other. 

Although so heavily armed and manned, it 
.LcfC. [99] 



PERILOUS TIMES 

was not intended to have the Intrepid go on a 
general cruise; her mission being to transport 
a cargo of drjgoods valued at half a million 
dollars from I'Orient, France, to Baltimore. It 
was an errand of unusual danger. Cut off 
from their ordinary supplies from the Old 
World, the colonists experienced difficulty in 
securing the ordinary necessities of civilization. 
Nearly all of our regular cruisers had been cap- 
tured or destroyed so that the only avenue of 
communication with the outside world was by 
means of a few heavily armed, fast-sailing 
craft which were specially prepared to make 
quick runs to and from foreign ports. 

The war with England was still on and 
(though British commerce had been almost 
swept from the seas) English cruisers were 
swarming about our ports and coast, eager to 
intercept and punish the daring seamen who had 
occasioned them such unprecedented injury. It 
was Captain Brown's duty to slip through the 
meshes of network the Admiralty had woven 
about our coast, elude their swiftest cruisers 
[100] 



WRECKED 

on the high seas, gain the French port and 
bring the precious cargo to Baltimore in safety. 
This difficult task was safely accomplished in the 
summer and fall of 1782, much to the gratifica- 
tion of the privateer's owners. 

Although the cessation of hostilities between 
England and the colonists relieved our seamen 
of much of these exciting war conditions, the 
times, for several decades afterward, were 
greatly unsettled. Acts of unwarranted se- 
verity and absolute outrage on the ocean were 
frequent so that our mariners were compelled to 
be almost as much on their guard as when the 
war was on. Captain Brown discovered this 
several times, to his sorrow. 

In April, 1783, he carried the Intrepid to 
Havana, where the vessel was sold, when Brown 
took passage in a brig for Boston but was 
wrecked off Cape Lookout, S. C, and nearly; 
perished. Making his way to Beaufort and 
thence to New York, he was in time to witness 
the evacuation of that city by the British. 

Not only on the high seas but in friendly 
[101] 



PERILOUS TIMES 

ports our merchantmen were subjected to un- 
just proceedings. Early in 1784, Captain 
Brown navigated the brig Wexford to Limer- 
ick, Ireland, where she was seized " and kept six 
months in the law which cost four hundred 
guineas (over two thousand dollars) with 
a loss of a part of the cargo." After get- 
ting clear of the land-sharks, Brown returned 
to Newburyport via Lisbon. 

In the year 1785, Brown made voyages to 
the West Indies and two more in the following 
year. The hardy sailor now planned a more 
ambitious voyage than any he had yet un- 
dertaken — India being the goal on which he 
fixed his eye. He says : " Some change taking 
place in Mr. Tracy's^ business, I tarried at 

^ From 1775 to 1783 Nathaniel Tracy was principal 
owner of one hundred and ten vessels, aggregating over 
fifteen thousand tons which, with their cargoes, were 
valued at $2,733,300. Twenty-three of these vessels were 
letters-of -marque, mounting two hundred and ninety- 
eight carriage guns, and registering sixteen hundred and 
eighteen men. Of this one hundred and ten sail but 
thirteen were left by the end of the war, all the rest 
having been taken by the enemy or lost. Tracy was also 

[102] 



PRIVATEER " HERCULES " 

home until the winter of 1787 when the brig 
became the property of Mr. John Lane, of Lon- 
don. He fitted her out for the Isle of France 
but we stopped at Senegal and found the garri- 
son in want of provisions. We sold our cargo 
and went to Buena Vista and loaded with salt 
and returned to Boston where I quit her and 
returned to Newburyport in September, to take 
charge of the ship Hercules, then in the stocks 
belonging to the same owner. 

" In October we launched her and in Janu- 

the principal owner of twenty- four cruising (privateers) 
sHips, the combined tonnage of which was over six 
thousand, carrying three hundred and forty guns, 6-, 
9- and 12-pounders, and navigated by twenty-eight 
hundred men. " When it is considered that these were 
in addition to the letters-of -marque, it exhibits Mr. 
Tracy as a naval, rather than a merchant, prince." 

But of these twenty-four cruisers, only one remained 
at the close of the war. Nevertheless they had not been 
idle, nor were they ignobly surrendered. These ships 
captured from the enemy one hundred and twenty sail, 
amounting to over twenty-three thousand tons which, 
with their cargoes, were sold for $3,950,000 and with 
these prizes were taken two thousand, two hundred and 
twenty-five prisoners of war. 

[103] 



PERILOUS TIMES 

ary, 1788, went to Portsmouth, loaded with 
masts and sailed in March for London with a 
view to going from thence to India. But Mr. 
Lane's partner, not liking the plan, it was given 
up and the ship was chartered for the Cape de 
Verde Islands, where I went and loaded at the 
Isle of May and returned to Boston in October. 
I went home to my family, the ship being laid 
up with the salt on board. In November I re- 
ceived a letter from Mr. Alexander Moore, who 
was agent for Mr. Lane, requesting me to come 
to Boston and take charge of the ship for 
another India voyage but, as I had spent two 
years, and made nothing for my trouble, and 
the voyage being uncertain as to its length, I 
quit and gave her up to my first officer, Mr. 
Patrick Fletcher [afterward a captain in the 
United States Navy. He commanded the 40- 
gun frigate Insurgent in 1800, when that ill- 
fated vessel sailed on a cruise and was never 
after heard from], of Boston and returned 
home — throwing myself once more on the wide 
world for employment to earn bread for myself 
[104] 



HARDSHIPS OF SEA LIFE 

and family. After lying ahull for some time 
and seeing nothing to advantage, I thought it 
time to call all hands and veer ship and make 
sail in chase of Industry, from which I have 
always found a sufficiency to feed and clothe 
my family." 

In a short time Captain Brown purchased 
" a small part of the brig Essex " and sailed in 
her for Surinam, January 25, 1788, with a 
small cargo of fish and lumber, " one-eighth of 
which was my all, having met with many crosses, 
losses and disappointments in life. I made this 
voyage with some success and returned to Bos- 
ton in June when I sold my cargo and returned 
to Newburyport, where I found my eldest son 
whom I had not seen in seven years." 

The peculiar hardships of seafaring life in 
those days are well illustrated in the last words 
of the above quotation : " My eldest son, whom I 
had not seen in seven years." This son, also, 
had followed the sea and had been fairly suc- 
cessful — as success was estimated among sea- 
faring people. That the father and son had 
[105] 



PERILOUS TIMES 

not met in " seven years " is not surprising. 
The average voyage in those days was from 
two to six months — some of those undertaken 
by Captain Brown had lasted over two 
years — while the visits home were from two to 
six weeks so we can easily understand how 
the son's visits home came at a time when the 
father was away. 

The final entries in Moses Brown's diary are 
full of pathos. In these notes we can see the 
good man nearing that stage of life when 
human clay begins to show its weakness, when 
the encroachments of time, hardships, disease 
and care alarmingly assert themselves in the 
frail body that encases the soul while on earth: 
" thirty-two years of toil, trouble and almost 
death," as he expressed it. Yet, although 
weighted down with cares and disappointments, 
we detect the indomitable spirit and courage of 
the man's soul breaking through all mortal bar- 
riers in a ringing, triumphant note when he 
records : " It being folly for a person with 
spirits like mine to despair, I started out again 
[106] 



AT SURINAM 

on this present voyage the 2d of December, for 
Surinam and am this day, December 18, 1789, 
in latitude 2T 30' N. ; and longitude 49° 30' 
W., with a fine breeze west-southwest — and may 
the blessing of God attend this voyage." 

On the 13th of January, 1790, Captain 
Brown arrived safely in the Surinam River and 
went up to Paramaribo, where he found the 
market very dull. He says : " I sold my cargo 
and on the 15th got my vessel up and found- 
some of my fish damaged. On Saturday, Janu- 
ary 23d, being the forty-eighth anniversary 
of my birth. Captains Willis, Wheelright and 
Holland, all of Newburyport, dined with me." 

Having experienced many fatiguing delays. 
Brown, after three months spent in this port, 
completed his cargo and sailed for home April 
14th. This is the last entry in Captain Brown's 
diary. His subsequent career as a merchant 
commander and as a captain in the regular 
navy during our naval war with France, is 
gathered from records left by his contempo- 
raries. 

[107] 



PERILOUS TIMES 

On another page, as if in conclusion to the 
sketch of his Hfe, Captain Brown makes the 
following comments and enters a few lines of 
verse : 

A man of fortune is like a tree loaded with fruit 
which people crowd about till it is all off, and then pass 
it unnoticed to another. 

What is our God, or what his name, 
Nor man can learn, nor angels teach. 

He dwells concealed in radiant flame, 
Where neither eye nor thought can reach. 

ON LOSING SOME TEETH. 

How weak the prison where we dwell. 

Flesh's but a tottering wall, 
The breaches every day foretell 

The house must shortly fall. 

And happy those who are prepared for the dissolu- 
tion." 

Moses Brown. 

In no place in Brown's diary or in any other 
document do we find mention made of his com- 
mand of the 22-gun privateer Minerva. Em- 
mons, in his " Statistical History of the United 
States Navy," enters the Minerva as a 16-gun 
[108] 



^J 






■> /V VC 






^1 



^ 



1 



o5 



< 



U§ 



H 













%■ 



H.> .V 



■^ 



^ 












MINERVA'S COMMISSION 

brig of sixty men of New Hampshire and com- 
manded by M. Brown. We give, in this work, 
a facsimile reproduction (reduced one-tenth 
from the original) of Captain Brown's com- 
mission, dated February 24, 1781, and signed 
by Samuel Huntington, President of the United 
States Congress, which shows plainly enough 
that he was in command of such a ship — 
though it is probable that he did not get to 
sea with her except for a short run from one 
port to another. 

There is a singular clause in this as in nearly 
all commissions issued by Congress, namely, 
that no cargoes or vessels belonging to the 
inhabitants of Bermuda should be molested. 



[109] 



CHAPTER X 

TRADING UNDER DIFFICULTIES 

IN spite of his poor luck at Surinam, as nar- 
rated in the last chapter, Captain Brown 
made several more voyages to that port. 
On his return from his last trip he was afflicted 
with a " very dangerous abscess in his thigh " 
and, during his convalescence, the brig was 
fitted for Port au Prince in charge of his son 
William. 

Returning from that place with a freight for 
Baltimore the brig was captured by an Enghsh 
privateer and carried into New Providence, on 
the island of Nassau, where she was detained 
some months because a part of her cargo was 
declared by some official to be French property. 
It was on such flimsy pretexts as this that 
many honest American merchantmen were seized 
by English authorities and, after being de- 
[110] 



IN THE " HANNAH » 

tained for months in litigation on mere " sus- 
picion," — at ruinous loss to their owners, — 
were released " on a mistake in detention." In 
many cases the " suspicion " on the part of 
British authorities amounted to nothing else 
than a desire to discourage " carrying trade " 
in American bottoms and, in this instance, it evi- 
dently was a malicious desire on the part of 
the Nassau officials to hamper the Yankees as 
common carriers. Captain Brown's son notes 
that the brig " finally proceeded to Baltimore 
and thence to Newburyport after making a 
poor voyage. After some repairs the brig was 
sold." 

Not discouraged by his Surinam experiences 
Captain Brown, with Mr. Anthony Davenport, 
purchased the schooner Hannah of ninety tons 
and loaded her for the South American port — 
his son Joseph, then twenty years old, going in 
her as cooper; it being his first voyage. The 
Hannah sailed early in December, 1794, and 
four days after leaving port encountered a 
heavy gale and shipped a sea while scudding 

[111] 



TRADING UNDER DIFFICULTIES 

before the wind which washed the mate and 
two men overboard. " As we were reefing the 
foresail," notes Joseph Brown, " the mate and 
one man were caught in the bag of the sail, 
which hung alongside, and we saved them. But 
one man (Moses Bennett) was lost. This was 
about three o'clock in the morning when it was 
pitch dark and a very heavy sea was running." 

The Hannah made a fairly profitable voy- 
age and returned to Boston in May, 1795, 
where her cargo was sold and she proceeded to 
her old home in the Merrimac. 

In the following July the brig sailed for 
Guadeloupe. When in a dangerous part of the 
West Indies she encountered a heavy squall 
which, in spite of the utmost exertions of her 
crew, threw her on the reefs. As the channel 
was intricate it became necessary to throw the 
deck load of lumber into the sea. 

When the weather moderated, the crew — with 

the assistance of thirty negroes — landed the 

cargo and in two days succeeded in getting the 

brig afloat, when she proceeded to Point Petre. 

[112] 



CAPTURED BY THE ENGLISH 

As the French officials would not allow the 
Yankees to sell their cargo at that place it was 
taken aboard again to be carried back to New 
England. 

On the passage home, when the Hannah was 
nearly on soundings off the southeast part of 
St. George's Bank, she was captured by the 
English privateer Dove, Robert Tucker, master^ 
of Bermuda. Placing a prize crew aboard the 
Hannah the Dove made sail for her home port 
but, owing to very severe weather and heavy 
gales, the passage was protracted. Before 
reaching port Captain Brown was taken down 
with fever and, at one time, his life was de- 
spaired of. 

There were no surgeons aboard vessels of this 
class in those days but, usually, some member 
of the ship's company was selected because of 
his greater familiarity with medicine and 
drugs. The mate of the Hannah was the ama- 
teur physician on this cruise and Captain 
Brown asked that he be allowed to attend to 
him. Captain Tucker, however, had already 
[113] 



TRADING UNDER DIFFICULTIES 

placed the mate aboard the privateer for safe 
keeping and would not permit him to again go 
aboard the Hannah. 

While the Dove and her prize were yet some 
days from port they became separated in a 
violent gale and did not meet again until they 
reached Bermuda. For several days young 
Joseph Brown was alone with his sick father 
aboard the Hannah, with only one small boy, 
three whites and two negroes, under the charge 
of a drunken prize-master named Newbold. It 
was only by the most unremitting efforts that 
the Hannah was saved from foundering and 
finally brought into port. 

Here the Hannah was detained three or four 
months to await the decision of the courts. 
The vessel and her cargo were finally most un- 
justly sold at auction. Captain Brown bought 
the vessel for eight hundred dollars and drew on 
his partners for the money, giving a bottomry 
bond on the vessel for security. The Han/nah 
then returned to Newburyport by way of 
Martha's Vineyard. 

[114] 



SOUTH AMERICAN VOYAGES 

Captain Brown made several more voyages 
to the West Indies and South America until 
the naval war with France broke out when he 
began his career as a captain in the regular 
navy. 



[115] 



CHAPTER XI 

PREPARING FOR WAR WITH FRANCE 

A LTHOUGH peace between the colonies 
A-% and the mother country was proclaimed 
in the United States April 11, 1783, 
our merchantmen, for a number of years after- 
ward, found that they were almost as much 
harassed on the high seas as before. This was 
owing largely to our legislators making the 
serious mistake of attempting to secure mari- 
time rights abroad without an adequate navy 
to maintain those claims. 

The total number of regular Continental war- 
ships in the Revolution (not including priva- 
teers or the flotilla on Lake Champlain) was 
forty-seven, carrying a total of one thousand 
guns. By the time peace was declared, of these 
forty-seven war craft only three remained and 
these were quickly disposed of, so that from 
[116] 



FALSE ECONOMY 
1783 to 1797 the country was without naval 
protection; for even the officers and sailors had 
been discharged and had sought new fields of 
activity. 

The folly of such " economy " soon became 
seriously apparent. As we have seen, in the 
career of Moses Brown alone, his ship in time of 
peace had been detained in an Irish port at ruin- 
ous loss of time and money and he was twice cap- 
tured by British privateers on the high seas. 
This is the record of only one seaman. That 
there were many other such instances is well 
known. The very fact that such outrages not 
only had been perpetrated but were likely to 
become more frequent with each repetition, 
compelled our merchants to incur the great ex- 
pense of engaging larger complements and to 
devote much of their cargo space to the ac- 
commodation of heavy ordnance and ammuni- 
tion. 

Not only English but French privateers ( and 
even the cruisers of the piratical States of Bar- 
bary) seized our traders — in some instances 

[in] 



PREPARING FOR WAR 

detaining entire ship companies in prisons or 
in slavery many months. In 1794 Edmund 
Randolph gave a list of thirty-eight American 
vessels which had been taken and carried into 
French ports by French cruisers and privateers. 
We get a better idea of the humihating and 
insecure position in which the United States 
was placed by the false economy of those who 
opposed the establishment of a navy, by the 
following note in an American newspaper: 

Portsmouth, N. H., January 20, 1798. — On Thursday 
morning about sunrise a gun was discharged from the 
frigate Crescent as a signal for getting under way and, 
at 10 A. M., she cleared the harbor with a fine leading 
breeze. Our best wishes follow Captain Newman, his 
officers and men. May they arrive in safety at the place 
of their destination and present to the Dey of Algiers 
one of the finest specimens of elegent naval architecture 
which was ever borne on the Piscataqua's waters. 

The Crescent is a present from the United States to 
the Dey of Algiers as a compensation for delay in not 
fulfilling our treaty stipulations in proper time. Rich- 
ard O'Brien, Esq., who was ten years a prisoner at 
Algiers, took passage in the above frigate and is to 
reside at Algiers as Consul-General of the United 
States to all the Barbary States. 

The Crescent has many valuable presents on board 

[118] 



OUR FRIGATE " CRESCENT " 

for the Dey and when she sailed was supposed to be 
worth at least three hundred thousand dollars. Twenty- 
six barrels of dollars constituted a part of her cargo. 
It is worthy of remark that the captain, chief of the 
officers and many of the privates of the Crescent frigate 
have been prisoners at Algiers. 

The Crescent belonged to that famous group 
of frigates built from 1794 to 1800, which 
formed the nucleus of our navy in the war of 
1812. They were the 44-gun frigates United 
States, Constitution and President, and the 36- 
gun frigates Constellation, Congress, Chesa- 
peake, Philadelphia and Crescent, 

The nomenclature of these celebrated ships 
is worthy of note. With the exception of the 
Chesapeake, they were named after the new 
government; Congress then being in session at 
Philadelphia so that city was very properly 
regarded as the capital of the country. It was 
a " pet " phrase in those days to speak of the 
United States as a " new constellation " among 
the nations of the earth, hence the apphcation 
of the name Constellation to a frigate. The 
Crescent, of course, was so named after the 
[119] 



PREPARING FOR WAR 

national emblem of Turkey, Algiers being a 
tributary State. It was the degrading spectacle 
of this land of liberty paying tribute to the 
petty States of Barbary that gave rise to that 
famous exclamation : " Millions for defense ; not 
a penny for tribute ! " Depredations on Ameri- 
can commerce by French cruisers reached such 
an extent that on July 7, 1798, all our treaties 
with that country were abrogated and American 
cruisers were ordered to capture French vessels 
when found in the limits and, two days after- 
ward, they were permitted to attack them any- 
where. 

Steps had already been taken to establish a 
naval personnel. By an act of June 5, 1794, 
the following well-known men were selected to 
be captains in the new navy : John Barry, Sam- 
uel Nicholson, Silas Talbot, Joshua Barney, 
Richard Dale and Thomas Truxtun. On De- 
cember 24, 1798, according to a report of the 
Secretary of the Navy, the United States navy 
consisted of two 44-gun and one 36-gun frig- 
ates, four 24-gun ships, seven 20- or 18-gun 
[ 120] 



THE NAVY IN 1798 
ships, seven 14- and 12-gun brigs or schooners 
and one 10-gun sloop. 

The following table will be found convenient 
for reference in narrative of Captain Brown's 
cruises in this war. 

The United States Navy in 1798. 

rate. name. commander. 

44-gun United States Captain John Barry. 

44-gun Constitution Captain Silas Talbot. 

36-gun Constellation Captain Thomas Truxtun. 

24-gun Ganges Captain Thomas Tingey. 

24-gun George Was^iw^f^ow. Captain Patrick Fletcher. 

24-gun Merrimac Captain Moses Brown. 

24-gun Portsmouth Captain Daniel McNiell. 

90-gun Baltimore Captain Isaac Phillips. 

20-gun Delaioare Captain Stephen Decatur, Sr. 

20-gun Montezuma Captain Alexander Murray. 

18-gun Herald Captain James Sever. 

18-gun Norfolk Captain Thomas Williams. 

18-gun Pinckney Captain Samuel Hejrwood. 

18-gun Richmond Captain Samuel Barron. 

Besides these regular vessels of the navy 

there were eight revenue cutters, mounting from 

ten to fourteen guns. They did very effective 

service. Their names were: Diligence, Eagle, 

[121] 



PREPARING FOR WAR 

General Greene, Governor Jay, Pickering, 
Scammelly South Carolina and Virginia. 

With the exception of the three frigates and 
revenue cutters, nearly all of these vessels were 
merchantmen hastily fitted out for the emer- 
gency. To officer and man them the Govern- 
ment called on those men who handled our in- 
fant maritime forces with such masterful skill 
and unprecedented audacity in our struggle for 
independence. All of these men are well known 
in naval history, most of them afterward at- 
taining high distinction in the service. 



[122] 



CHAPTER XII 

THE FIRST " MERRIMAC " 

THE name " Merrimac " is one that will 
always be famous in American naval 
history. When that bulky colKer Mer- 
rimac was carried into the jaws of Santiago 
harbor by the gallant Hobson, new luster was 
added to the glory of our navy. When, on 
that Saturday morning, March 8, 1862, the 
iron-mailed leviathan Merrimac began her awful 
work in Hampton Roads, the name sent un- 
speakable terror throughout the North and cor- 
responding joy throughout the Confederacy. 
It was the blackest night to the one ; the bright- 
est day to the other. Then, on the following 
day, took place that terrific struggle between 
those hideous, newly created monsters, the Moni- 
tor and the Merrimac; the result of which 
[ 123 ] 



THE FIRST " MERRIMAC " 
sounded the death knell of wooden war-ships the 
world over. 

In all, there have been three Merrimacs in the 
United States navy. Of the two just mentioned 
nothing further need be said. Their fame is 
world-wide. But of the first Merrimac little is 
known, although her career was highly credit- 
able to the service while the story of her con- 
struction and entry into the navy is so singular 
as to be deserving of special notice. 

As we have already noted, in the last chapter, 
depredations on our commerce by English, 
French and Barbary cruisers continued long 
after the nominal cessation of hostihties be- 
tween the colonies and England and, finally, be- 
came so serious that Congress was compelled to 
create a new navy. 

The seaports of New England seem to have 
been the principal sufferers in these outrages 
and they were the first to take steps looking 
toward relief. Our Government, at this time, 
was sadly embarrassed for want of money and 
was in the generally chaotic state of every or- 
[124] 



PATRIOTISM— IN 1798 

ganization in its initial stage. At Salem 
the leading men met in the court-house, Octo- 
ber, 1798, and passed resolutions with the re- 
sult that the famous 32-gun frigate Essex was 
built at the expense of a few citizens and pre- 
sented to the Government. But some months 
before this patriotic move on the part of the 
Salemites, the merchants of Newburyport had 
preconceived a similar idea. In the columns of 
a local newspaper, under the caption " Pa- 
triotic Letter," dated June 1, 1798, we have an 
interesting account of how the first Merrimac 
came into existence. The letter was addressed 
to the Hon. Bailey Bartlett, of Haverhill, who 
represented the Salem district in Congress: 

Sir: A number of the inhabitants of this town have 
agreed to build and equip a ship of three hundred and 
fiftj^-five tons to be mounted with twenty 6-pounder can- 
non and to offer her to the Government of the United 
States for its use. They have also voted that they will 
not accept of any other or further compensation from 
the Government than an interest of six per cent, on the 
net cost of the ship and equipment and a final reimburse- 
ment at the convenience of the Government of the said 
net cost; and they have appointed us a committee to 

[125] 



THE FIRST " MERRIMAC " 

inform you of their intention and to request you to pro- 
mote a provision whereby they may be enabled to carry 
their designs into execution by the countenance of 
Government, so far as the same shall appear neces- 
sary. 

As we indulge in a hope that this intention of the citi- 
zens of Newburyport will lead to proportionate exertion 
in larger and wealthier towns, we beg leave to suggest the 
convenience that any provision which may be thought 
proper and applicable to this case might be made gen- 
eral. The inhabitants of the town at the present moment 
are animated with the most zealous purpose to support 
and defend with their lives and property the Government 
of their country, as well against the open attacks of 
foreign enemies as the insidious attempts of domestic 
traitors. They heartily wish their abilities extended 
beyond the present offer, but the immense ravages which 
have been committed on their property by sea, and the 
present of the remnant yet at risk, forbids the further 
indulgence of their inclinations. It may be that with an 
act of Government, authorizing the Executive to pur- 
chase ships of war, the proposal may be closed without 
legislative aid. If such should be your opinion, we wish 
you to lay the plan before the Executive, and we shall 
be the more gratified in this way, as the whole business 
may probably be thus considerably expedited. 

The materials are already in forwardness, and pro- 
visional contracts will be entered into, so that probably 
in ninety days from our receiving assurance that Gov- 
ernment patronizes our design, the ship may be afloat. 
The best calculations we have been able to make of the 
whole expense reduces it below thirty thousand dollars, 

[126] 



A HANDSOME OFFER 

and if the utmost attention to economy and despatch 
can affect anything, the cost will fall considerably within 
that sum. 

Among the good effects of the present proposal, we 
have contemplated that in this way Government may, at 
this period, when so many calls for money exists, procure 
the means of defense without actual advances; perhaps 
with more promptitude and undoubtedly with consid- 
erably less expense than in the common contract mode of 
contracts. 

With wishes for your health and happiness, we 
are, Sir, 

Your most obedient, humble servants, 

William Bartlett, 
William Coombs, 
Dudley A. Tyng, 
Moses Brown, 
William P. Johnson, 
Nicholas Johnson, 
Ebenezer Stocker, 
Samuel A. Otis, Jr. 
Hon. Bailey Bartlett. 



This handsome offer was promptly accepted, 
and without loss of time work was begun. 
Within seventy-five working days from the time 
the keel was laid, the vessel was launched, on 
October 12th. William Hackett superintended 
[127] 



THE FIRST " MERRIMAC " 

the construction, while William Cross and 
Thomas M. Clark were the contractors. 

Hackett at that time was one of the best ship- 
builders in the world. When he undertook the 
Merrimac his reputation had become well es- 
tablished — extending beyond the seas. It was 
he who built the superb Alliance which took 
part in the famous Bonhomme Richard-Serapis 
fight, September 23, 1799. At the time, there 
was not a finer war-ship of her class afloat. 
When the Government ordered the Alliance, 
other shipwrights hesitated to undertake her 
construction, for the fate of the Revolution 
was then trembling in the balance, and it was 
far from a certainty that the work would ever 
be paid for. William Hackett undertook the 
contract, and turned out one of the most suc- 
cessful vessels in our first navy. The spot 
where the Alliance was built is marked by a 
bronze tablet given by the Town Improvement 
Society of Newburyport. 

Hackett had also built the highly successful 
privateers Intrepid (which we have already 
[128] 



WILLIAM HACKETT 

noted as having once been under the command 
of Captain Brown) and Tyrannicide. Besides 
contriving two fire-rafts for the defense of 
Sahsbury against a possible attack by British 
naval forces, Hackett, in 1787, built, at Quincy, 
Mass., the largest merchant ship that had ever 
been launched in the United States down to that 
period. " She created quite a sensation at the 
time; people of every rank came to see and 
admire her. On her arrival at Batavia and 
Canton the commanders of English and Dutch 
vessels came on board and acknowledged her 
to be the handsomest vessel in the two ports." 

It was Hackett who built the famous frig- 
ate Essex, which, after her capture by the 
British squadron at Valparaiso in 1814, was 
taken to England, and was used as a model by 
their shipwrights. Hackett also had the unique 
distinction of owning what was probably the 
nearest approach to an automobile in the 
eighteenth century. It is recorded that in 1762 
he bought for his wife Nanna (daughter of 
Captain William Osgood) a " Top Shase for 
[129] 



THE FIRST " MERRIMAC " 

which he paid one hundred pounds. This was 
probably the first chaise owned in SaHsbury. 
He had his initials ' W. H.' painted on the 
back." This chaise was the subject of vivacious 
discussion in the local sewing circles for three 
consecutive winters. 

It is difficult, in these days of a cosmopolitan 
population, to appreciate the intense patriot- 
ism that animated our people in the early 
stages of our national history. We get some 
inkling of it in the few extracts from a local 
newspaper printed at the time, relative to the 
construction of the Merrimac. The paper bears 
date of July 6? 1798, and the following extract 
refers to the preceding Fourth of July cele- 
bration : " The twenty-third anniversary of our 
independence was celebrated in this town [New- 
buryport] with greater spirit and unanimity 
than ever before. The day was ushered in with 
martial music, the discharge of artillery and 
the ringing of bells. All the shipping in the 
harbor and many of the buildings of the town 
were decorated with American flags. A public 
[130] 



A PATRIOTIC PARADE 

dinner was provided at the hall on Deer Island, 
of which a large number of gentlemen partook. 

** In the afternoon a large number of our 
young men (which was the most animating 
feature of the day) were formed on State Street 
with a respectable band of music at their head 
under the leadership of Mr. S. Holyoke. Cap- 
tain Moses Brown accidentally appearing as the 
young men were forming, was saluted with 
three cheers and unanimously requested to lead 
the procession, to which he obligingly con- 
sented. 

" They first moved down the street to the Fed- 
eral Street shipyard, where a large number of 
men were at work on the 20-gun ship \_Merri- 
mac] now building for the use of the Govern- 
ment, when Captain Brown addressed them in 
the following words : ' Gentlemen : This being the 
anniversary of the independence and sover- 
eignty of our nation, which our predecessors 
gained with their lives and their fortunes, I 
trust their sons will ever defend them with 
theirs; and you, gentlemen, being employed in 
[131] 



THE FIRST " MERRIMAC '' 

the laudable business of building a ship for this 
purpose, the gentlemen forming the procession 
have thought fit to make this our first stand 
and give you the salutation of three cheers.' 

" The procession then moved through the 
principal streets of the town, and as they passed 
the houses of those who patriotically set on 
foot the subscription for the ship, they repeated 
the salutation of grateful cheers. Every coun- 
tenance seemed animated by that virtuous ardor 
which in men who feel themselves free, and are 
determined to support the independence of their 
country at the hazard of their all, appears with 
grandeur and effect inconceivable to those who 
have not seen it." 

Referring to the appointment of Captain 
Brown to the command of this vessel, the New- 
buryport Herald of September 11, 1798, says: 
" No appointment in our growing navy has 
given more genuine satisfaction than that of 
Captain Moses Brown to the command of the 
fine 20-gun ship now building in this town. 
The work progresses rapidly and the best 
[132] 



DAY OF THE LAUNCHING 

judges pronounce it to be as well done as that 
of any ship ever built in so short a time. She 
will undoubtedly be launched by the 10th of next 
month, as she is planked up and the gun deck 
laid." 

The day of launching was, of course, long 
remembered in Newburyport. The enterpris- 
ing Herald, under date of October 12th, said: 
" This day at fifteen minutes past one [o'clockj 
our beautiful, patriotic ship majestically de- 
scended from her native land to the embrace 
of the watery god without the least accident. 
She is called the Merrimack, and will mount 
twenty 9- and eight 6-pounders. She is finely 
coppered, and the best judges say she will not 
suffer by comparison with the finest vessels of 
her size ever built. Captain William Hackett, 
the constructor, and Major Cross, the contrac- 
tor, are entitled to all the merit which can be 
attached to the profession. 

" Her [figure] head is a group composed of 
an eagle supported on one side by a figure 
representing Commerce and on the other by a 
[ 133 ] 



THE FIRST " MERRIMAC *' 
beautiful female, strikingly emblematic of 
Justice, and in front are borne the arms of the 
United States. The design is excellent and 
does honor to the artist, Mr. Bearing, of Ports- 
mouth. A vast concourse of people attended, 
to be witnesses of the interesting scene. A 
Federal salute from the artillery pieces an- 
nounced to distant friends the happy issue of 
the launch. The keel of the ship was laid on 
the 9th of July, since which there have been 
seventy-four working days, and we have pre- 
sumed to say that from the spirit which has 
attended the business, she will be ready for sea 
in fourteen days, as numbers of the hardy sons 
of Neptune stand ready to enlist under her 
worthy commander, and who have long been 
waiting for an opportunity to manifest their 
zeal and ability in defense of their injured 
country and seafaring brethren." 

Samuel Swett, who was an eye-witness of the 
launching, recorded, in 1846, that the Merrimac 
rode " on the tide swan-like, buoyant and beau- 
tiful; her tall masts soaring aloft to meet the 
[134] 



A SPLENDID VESSEL 

lightest zephyr " — this, of course, must have 
been some days after the launching, when the 
masts had been stepped. 

Although the committee, which had presented 
the proposal of building the Merrimac to their 
Congressman, had promised a ship of only 
three hundred and fifty-five tons, on launching 
the cruiser was found to be of four hundred 
and sixty-seven tons. Instead of only twenty 
6-pounders she was mounted with twenty 9- 
pounders and eight 6-pounders — a very heavy 
armament for a ship of her class in those days. 
She was rated at the Navy Department as a 
" 24-gun sloop-of-war," the ratings usually 
being below the actual number of guns carried. 

A contemporary writer said of her : " The 
Merrimac was the first and best vessel of her 
size furnished on loan to the Government and 
was built at a much less expense than any other 
built for the Government. The inhabitants of 
the river towns and vicinity seemed in danger of 
falling in love with their ship, as the sculptor did 
with his statue, and when we consider that all of 
[ 135 ] 



THE FIRST " MERRIMAC " 

her officers were citizens of Newburyport, and 
that her commander was as great a favorite as 
his ship, the deep and inexpressible interest this 
single ship inspired can hardly be imagined." 

Her officers were: Moses Brown, commander; 
Michael Titcomb and Samuel Chase, first and 
second lieutenant; Jonathan Titcomb, sailing 
master; Joseph Brown, Nathan Fletcher, Ben- 
jamin Whitmore, midshipmen; Nathaniel Brad- 
street, surgeon. That the claim that the Mer- 
rimac was built " at a much less expense than 
any other [24-gun sloop-of-war of that year] 
for the Government " is well substantiated, is 
shown in the following table: 

24-gun sloop-of-war Connecticut $57,260 

24-gun sloop-of-war Ganges 80,665 

24-gun sloop-of-war George Washington 69,025 

24-gun sloop-of-war Portsmouth 59,560 

24-gun sloop-of-war Merrimac 46,170 



[136] 



CHAPTER XIII 

ON THE SCENE OF HOSTILITIES 

ALTHOUGH the Merrimac had been 
/-\ launched October 12, 1798, so rapidly 
was the work of equipment pushed that 
she was ready to sail on a cruise January 1st of 
the following year. By that time our naval 
war against France had been under way nearly 
six months. Many captures of French armed 
craft had been made, with the result that a 
larger number of American vessels had ven- 
tured to sea. 

Early in the year 1799 the Government put 
into operation a comprehensive plan for the 
protection of our commerce and the extermina- 
tion of French privateers, which had been so suc- 
cessfully plying their trade in the West Indies. 
The entire naval force of the infant republic 
was massed in these waters and, headed by the 
[137] 



SCENE OF HOSTILITIES 

massive frigates Constitution^ United States 
and Constellation, a brave showing thej made. 

One squadron under the immediate command 
of Captain John Barry, in the United States, 
had its rendezvous at Prince Rupert's Bay, 
with orders to cruise windward of St. Kitts, 
and as far south as Barbadoes and Tobago. It 
consisted of the flagship United States; the 
Constitution, Captain Samuel Nicholson; the 
George Washington, Captain Patrick Fletcher 
(whom we remember as having once served 
under Captain Moses Brown); the Merrimac, 
Captain Moses Brown ; the Portsmouth, Cap- 
tain Daniel McNiell; the Pickering, Master- 
Commandant Edward Preble; the Eagle, Lieu- 
tenant Hugh George Campbell; the Herald, 
Lieutenant Charles C. Russell; the Scammell, 
Lieutenant J. Adams; and the Diligence, Lieu- 
tenant John Brown. 

A second squadron under Captain Truxtun 

in the Constellation, was directed to cruise in 

the vicinity of Porto Rico, St. Martin and 

Virgin Gorda. It consisted of the flagship 

[138] 



SCENE OF HOSTILITIES 

Constellation, the Baltimorey Captain Isaac 
Phillips; the Norfolk, Captain Thomas Wil- 
liams; the Richmond, Captain Samuel Barron; 
and the Virginia, Captain Francis Bright. 
How thoroughly these two squadrons scoured 
the sea in this part of the West Indies is en- 
gagingly set forth in the original log of the 
Merrimac, which was kept by Midshipman 
Joseph Brown (a son of Captain Brown) of 
that ship. 

The logbook itself is one of singular beauty, 
a reduced facsimile of the title-page and of 
one other page being given in this work. 
Evidently the book was printed especially for 
the Merrimac, Each one of the one hundred 
and seventy pages is elaborately ornamented, 
and, though somewhat stained with over one 
hundred years of existence, the paper is still 
in good condition, the print remarkably clear, 
while the daily entries (though somewhat 
faded) are made in ink and are legible to the 
last letter. The entire work is an excellent 
model of faithful and intelligent sea-recording. 
[140] 



^^ 



^ 



{^ 



-- , f^ 






-J -J > , > 





fife , 





Fathoms. 



Knots. 



Hours. 










I 



i I 



c:^ 



>H (S CO -^ ^^\0 t^OO CNO>-'M«N<ri'<4- w-)sO t^CO CT* O « N 



SAILING FROM BOSTON 

As many overlooked items of historical and 
popular interest are brought to light in this 
log, a digest of it will be here given. Under 
date of January S, 1799, young Brown re- 
cords : " At 1 p. M. weighed our anchors and 
made sail [from Boston] in company with two 
ships. At 2 p. M. discharged our pilot. At 
4 p. M. Boston Lighthouse distant about twelve 
miles, from which I take my departure." 

The " point of departure " was an important 
feature in the navigation of those days. It 
formed the base on which mariners reckoned 
their position from the time land was lost sight 
of till they again sighted terra firma, at the 
other end of the voyage. 

It was a dull winter's afternoon when the 
Merrimac left Boston, on this, her maiden ven- 
ture. Though the breeze was moderate, the 
weather was cloudy, accompanied by snow 
squalls and, as night fell over the sea, it came 
on to a steady snow, leaving the ship enshrouded 
in a pall of darkness, which only those who 
have been at sea during a snowstorm at night 
[141] 



SCENE OF HOSTILITIES 

can understand. It certainly was not a situ- 
ation calculated to enliven the spirits of the 
crew. At best, the first night in a ship after 
leaving port is one in which there is much con- 
fusion. It requires time, even in old ships' com- 
panies, to " shake down " again to sea routine. 

In the Merrimac^s case the situation was es- 
pecially trying. The ship was new in hull, 
rigging and armament ; the crew was newly en- 
listed — doubtless many green hands prostrated 
by seasickness; the officers had not associated 
together in ship duty, and had not had time in 
which to inspire that confidence in each other 
so necessary to the perfect handling of a ship's 
company. Furthermore, the mission on which 
the ship was going was a new one — new, at 
least, to most of her people. 

Under such conditions we can easily imagine 
that, as the Merrimac blindly plowed her way 
over the turbulent sea that blackest of black 
nights — dismally creaking and groaning in her 
timbers and new rig — her officers anxiously 
watched each rope, the set of every sail, the 
[142] 



A SCENE OF ANXIETY 

sway of every spar, the slack of every shroud. 
Possibly, in the general confusion of leaving 
port the deck-lanterns had been misplaced. 
Or, if lighted, their feeble rays only served to 
render the surrounding gloom deeper and the 
inboard shadows blacker. The forms of many 
men, prostrated by sickness, lying about the 
decks, the disordered arrangement of the ropes, 
cannon, baggage, provisions; the encumber- 
ment of sails, buckets, small arms; the decks 
slippery with snow and a howling gale shriek- 
ing through the rigging, all conspired to create 
a scene of anxiety and horror. 

All through that black night the sloop-of- 
war rushed over the dark, snow-enshrouded bil- 
lows, each lunging roll, each rising header car- 
rying her nearer to her goal. Had she 
collided with another craft that night we could 
readily understand how easy it is to " leave port 
and never be heard from again." 

By dawn of day the Merrimac was one hun- 
dred miles from Boston. Although it was still 
snowing and there was a " large sea on," Cap- 
[143] 



SCENE OF HOSTILITIES 

tain Brown had " all sail set," and reduced 
only when night came on. A weakness was 
discovered in the topgallant yard. It was 
promptly sent down, corrected and replaced 
the next day, so that on January 5th the ship 
made the truly creditable run of over two hun- 
dred miles, or a total of nearly four hundred 
from Boston in fifty hours. 

On the fifth day the Merrimac had come 
within the influence of the Gulf Stream and ex- 
perienced one of the peculiar dangers to navi- 
gation of that day. She had left Boston in 
the dead of a New England winter, when the 
mercury was having a chilly flirtation with the 
zero point, and in five days found herself in 
the semi-tropical latitude of Bermuda. Nearly 
all of her rigging was of hemp rope and, al- 
though it had been taut in Boston, the 
warm influence of the Gulf Stream caused it 
to slacken, so as to give her spars little or no 
support. Should she be overtaken by a heavy 
gale while in that condition there was great 
danger of roUing her masts out; even in a 
[144] 



SAIL HO! 

moderate sea. It was to guard against such 
a catastrophe that Captain Brown, on Janu- 
ary 7th, " employed all hands setting up the 
rigging." Nowadays, this danger is largely 
avoided by having all standing rigging made 
of iron or steel. 

Scarcely had this task been accomphshed 
when the first sail since leaving port was dis- 
covered. It was to windward, and Captain 
Brown at once began beating up to her. The 
stranger, evidently, was anxious to avoid a 
meeting and made sail to escape. The chase 
lasted all day. Before evening it came on a 
" heavy gale and rain," so that the chase was 
lost to view, but throughout that night the 
war-ship thrashed to windward in blind pursuit ; 
hoping to obtain another view of the stranger 
at daybreak. 

About at midnight the wind suddenly shifted 
in the Merrimac's favor, and in a short time she 
was " scudding before a heavy gale, goose- 
winged," that IS, with studding sails set on 
each side. Much to the disappointment of all, 
[145] 



SCENE OF HOSTILITIES 

when day returned, no trace of the stranger 
was seen, but the Merrimac persisted in the 
chase. By noon the weather moderated, but 
it was still cloudy, so that it was impossible to 
see very far. At half -past eight o'clock that 
night, just after a rain squall had passed over, 
the weather lifted, and the stranger was dis- 
covered. Captain Brown immediately altered 
his course and, by putting on a heavy pressure 
of sail, managed to keep her in sight through- 
out the night, and on the following morning — 
the American crew all the time being at quar- 
ters — came within gunshot. Not wishing to 
injure a possible friend Captain Brown re- 
frained from firing, and by 3 p. m., ran along- 
side and boarded. The chase proved to be the 
English merchant ship Carterett, John Tre- 
ludden, master, bound for Falmouth. The 
Carterett had mistaken the Merrimac for a 
French war-ship. 

Although disappointed at not meeting an 
enemy, the chase had been an exciting one and 
had given the green crew that much-to-be- 
[146] 



A CHASE! 

desired opportunity of drilling ander actual 
war conditions. Resuming her course south- 
ward, the Merrimac, at nine o'clock on the fol- 
lowing morning, January 10th, discovered an- 
other sail and, shaking out her reefs, gave chase. 
At 11.30 A. M. she came up with her and, on 
boarding, found her to be the brig Three 
Friends, William Blanchard, master, from 
Thomastown bound for Barbadoes, eleven days 
out. As she was Enghsh property Captain 
Brown allowed her to proceed. 

For the two days following the weather was 
hazy and fitful, with frequent rain squalls. As 
the ship had now reached a point some eight hun- 
dred miles further south and, consequently was 
in much warmer weather, it again became neces- 
sary to " set up the rigging." This work en- 
gaged all hands through the afternoon of the 
12th. 

From January 13th to the 16th, inclusive, 

the Merrimac enjoyed fairly good weather m 

her course southward, the ship logging about 

two hundred miles a day. On the last day men- 

[147] 



SCENE OF HOSTILITIES 

tioned, Captain Brown exercised his crew by 
going " through the maneuvers of a sham 
action." Reahzing that he was now nearing 
that part of the West Indies where he might, 
at any moment, expect to meet the enemy, he 
improved the moderate weather of the next few 
days by daily exercise of the crew at the great 
guns, small arms and rapid maneuvering of 
the ship, as if in action. On the evening of 
January 18th the island of Dominica was 
sighted, and at six o'clock on the following 
morning " we saw the High land of Guade- 
loupe." 

The Merrimac was now close to the rendez- 
vous to which she had been ordered. Prince 
Rupert's Bay, in the island of Dominica, and 
an extraordinary lookout was maintained not 
only for French war-ships and merchantmen, 
but for our own ships, in order to avoid an 
action with them by mistake on a dark night. 
We discover this precaution in the frequent 
entries in the Mernmac's log of such data as 
the following : "At 7 p. m. the Saints bore 
[148] 



EXTRA PRECAUTIONS 

northwest. At midnight [January 19-20] the 
north point of Dominica distant three leagues. 
At half -past 1 a. m. hove-to. At 2 a. m. saw- 
two sail to leeward. Bore away and made sail 
for the high land of Dominica. At 9 a. m. 
hove-to, and the first lieutenant [Michael Tit- 
comb] went ashore to the fort [probably seek- 
ing information as to the whereabouts of the 
American fleet]. At ten o'clock the boat re- 
turned. Bore away again. At eleven tacked 
ship several times." 

All these unusual details in the log indicate 
plainly enough that the Merrimac was now 
on the scene of immediate action and that 
extra caution was necessary in her maneu- 
vers — especially as it was known that 
several large French frigates were in the 
vicinity. 

The next entry in the log, that of the fol- 
lowing day, reads : " First part [of the day] 
pleasant weather. At 1 p. m. bore away for 
two large ships. Ran within one and a half 
leagues of the same and showed our signals 
[149] 



SCENE OF HOSTILITIES 

but they, not answering them, at 2 p. m. hauled 
our wind and made sail for Dominica. At 5 
p. M. came-to in Prince Rupert's Bay, and 
moored ship, the Captain going on shore. 
Saw a large ship running down the north side 
of the island. 

" January 21st. — Took on board thirty- 
seven casks of water and one boat-load of bal- 
last to trim the ship. There arrived from a 
cruise [in tliis port] the British frigate Pearly 
Captain Ballard." 

That Captain Brown had reached Prince 
Rupert's Bay and had found none of our ships 
at that rendezvous, occasioned some anxiety, for 
the sloop-of-war Merrimac would have had 
little chance if once she got under the guns of 
one of the French corvets or frigates that were 
cruising in these parts. With a view to falhng 
in with some of our ships, and thus learning 
where the fleet was. Captain Brown determined 
to make several short runs; having Prince Ru- 
pert's Bay for his base. 

Accordingly, at seven o'clock on the morning 
[150] 



UNDER FIRE 

of January 22d he " unmoored ship ; at 9 a. m. 
got under way ; set all sail on the wind. Plying 
to windward and tacking ship occasionally. 
At four o'clock in the afternoon saw a 
sloop. Gave her a gun, brought her to and 
boarded. She was from Roseau bound for the 
Saints." 

During the next forty-eight hours the Mer- 
rimac plied to windward and tacked occasion- 
ally, waiting to get some news of the squadron. 
At noon, January 23d, she had worked her way 
north of Dominica and, standing in too close 
to the French island of Marie Galante, she re- 
ceived two shots from the fort which, however, 
did no damage. 

By daybreak, January 25th, Captain Brown 
had so far worked his way to windward as to 
sight the island of Desirade and at six o'clock 
in the evening sighted and gave chase to a sail 
which bore away for the Merrimac as if anxious 
to meet her. Shortly afterward Captain Brown 
showed his signals which were answered and at 
eleven o'clock, being within hailing distance, 
[151] 



SCENE OF HOSTILITIES 

found the stranger to be the George Washing- 
ton, In a short time Captain Brown was snugly 
ensconced in the George Washington's cabin 
learning all the news from his old shipmate, 
Captain Patrick Fletcher. 



[152] 



CHAPTER XIV 

CONVOYING A GREAT FLEET 

)1 FTER cruising in the vicinity of Desirade 
/-\ and Marie Galante, in company with 
the George Washington, for two days, 
the Merrimac returned to Prince Rupert's Bay 
where she found the flagship United States and 
Constitution at anchor. Captain Brown now 
learned that a number of American merchant- 
men from various points in the West Indies and 
South America were making for Prince Rupert's 
Bay, where they were to be formed in a great 
fleet and escorted home; the Merrimac having 
been selected as the convoying ship. 

From January 28th to February 2d the 
Merrimac took in casks of water and stone bal- 
last, preparatory to her long voyage. At four 
o'clock on the afternoon of February 2d, the 
United States signaled the ships to get under 
[153] 



CONVOYING A GREAT FLEET 

way anci followed by the Constitution^ Merri- 
mac and George Washington, and the mer- 
chantmen, they moved out of the roads in an im- 
posing array. The fleet put into the port of 
Martinique to await the arrival of other mer- 
chantmen ; meantime the men-of-war made short 
cruises. 

At eleven o'clock on the morning of February 
7th, while the Merrimac was thirty-five miles to 
north of the Desirade, a sail was discovered 
northward, to which chase was given. As the 
stranger proved to be a remarkably fast sailer, 
the chase lasted all the following night and well 
into the next day. At four o'clock in the 
afternoon the Merrimac fell in with the Consti- 
tution and was informed that she had spoke the 
chase, which was a British packet from Antigua 
to Barbadoes. 

Scarcely a day now passed without some ex- 
citing incident, which kept the men in the 
squadron at quarters most of the time. A few 
extracts from the log will give a better idea of 
the excitement ; " At 2 p. m., February 9th, saw 
[154] 



KEEPING A SHARP LOOKOUT 

the Constitution on our lee bow, under full sail, 
in chase of a schooner to windward. We let out 
our reefs, set all sail and joined in the chase. 
Night coming on, we lost sight of the ship and 
gave it up. 

" February 11th. — ^At 4 p. m. saw a craft to 
the south. Made sail for the same. At 6 p. m., 
finding that the above sail was standing for us, 
we hauled our courses and got all ready for 
action. At seven o'clock she came alongside of 
us and proved to be a British frigate. A ship 
in sight to windward, supposed to be the Con- 
stitution. 

" February 14th. — At 11 p. m. saw two 
strange sail bearing down on the fleet. Hauled 
up the mainsail and bore away for them. Found 
them to be armed ships. Showed them signals 
and was answered by them. At meridian spoke 
them, the one an English 20-gun ship, the other 
a transport mounting twelve guns." 

At four o'clock on the morning of February 
15th, the Merrimac gave chase to a sail, which 
ran into Basse Terre for refuge. Evidently it 
[155] 



CONVOYING A GREAT FLEET 

was a French privateer, which had hoped to 
make a prize or two under cover of night. 

Getting under way from Martinique, the cum- 
bersome fleet worked its way northward, passing 
in full view of Martinique and Guadeloupe, 
and on the morning of the 16th sighted Mont- 
serrat. It was here that a stranger was dis- 
covered in the midst of the fleet. The Merrimac 
promptly gave her a shot and brought her to. 
She proved to be a harmless English schooner 
from Montserrat, but the fact that she had come 
into the fleet and had remained there undetected 
until daylight, shows how difficult was the task 
in which Captain Brown was engaged. It was 
this danger, and the difficulty of keeping so 
many vessels of widely varying sailing qualities, 
together, that led Captain Brown to write: 
" You may think there is an honor in this busi- 
ness [convoying], but there is more trouble to 
keep them together. ... I don't expect 
much idle bread. I have been but four days at a 
time in port since my arrival at the rendezvous." 

As the great fleet passed the bay of Nevis, the 
[166] 



STRANGERS IN THE FLEET 

Merrimac's second lieutenant went ashore in a 
boat to ascertain if any American merchantmen 
were there desiring convoy. Finding none, he 
returned, and the fleet bore away for St. Kitts, 
coming to anchor in Basseterre before night. 
Here they found the 36-gun frigate Constella- 
Hon with her prize, the 40-gun French frigate 
Insurgent, On the following day the Monte- 
zuma arrived at Basseterre with twenty sail of 
American merchantmen, increasing the fleet to a 
total of forty-two sail. 

At noon, February 18th, the fleet got under 
way and began the final passage homeward. 
Sweeping majestically past the Dutch islands of 
St. Eustatius and Saba, with the Merrimac in 
the lead, the armada was thrown into some con- 
fusion by two incidents. At half-past four 
o'clock in the morning, when it was still dark, a 
strange sail was discovered. The Merrimac 
promptly gave chase, and fired three shots be- 
fore she hove-to. She was an English privateer 
brig of fourteen guns. 

In a number of instances English war-ships 
[157] 



CONVOYING A GREAT FLEET 

had intercepted our merchantmen and, had it 
not been for the protection afforded by the Mer- 
rimac in this case, it is probable that the priva- 
teer would not have resisted the temptation of 
" seizing " one or more of the fleet. As it was, 
she was requested to " move on." 

Scarcely had the affair of the privateer been 
dismissed when, at 7 a. m., a large ship was dis- 
covered to leeward, to which the swift-sailing 
Merrimac gave chase. When quite near, the 
stranger showed English colors. Of course, any 
French craft could easily have used this flag to 
escape molestation. To guard against such a 
trick, the American and English officers had ar- 
ranged a secret code by which they could dis- 
tinguish each other. It was this secret signal 
that Captain Brown now displayed, but finding 
that the stranger did not answer, the Americans 
cleared for action and fired several shots. This 
was answered by the stranger firing several 
guns, " some to leeward and some to windward." 

Determined to remove all doubt, Captain 
Brown crowded on sail and by ten o'clock came 
[158] 



SEVERE DISCIPLINE 

up with her and, on hailing, learned that she was 
an English war-ship on a cruise. In response 
to the sharp inquiry why they had so nearly 
precipitated a battle between the two men-of- 
war, the Englishman said that he had not been 
able to make out the Merrimac^s signals. 

Greatly vexed by the incident, Captain Brown 
rejoined his fleet and on the following day ex- 
ercised a little discipline on one of his own con- 
voy, when her master paid no attention to sig- 
nals. Early in the morning, observing a mer- 
chantman disobeying the fleet signals, Captain 
Brown fired three shots into the offender, and 
then sent his second lieutenant, Samuel Chase, 
aboard her to give her master a severe lecture. 

About four o'clock on the following morning, 
the Merrimac brought-to and boarded an Eng- 
lish lugger of ten guns that was found among 
the merchantmen that morning after a dark 
night. It was really singular how many Brit- 
ish armed craft managed to make their way 
into this fleet under cover of night. 

After remaining at St. Thomas several days, 
[159] 



CONVOYING A GREAT FLEET 

the fleet, on February 22d, got under way 
again, when Midshipman Brown notes : " We 
fired a salute of seventeen guns which was an- 
swered by a number of American vessels [in the 
convoy] in honor to General Washington, it 
being his birthday." 

The great fleet had now, after several narrow 
escapes, cleared the dangers of the West Indies 
and was boldly heading into the Atlantic Ocean 
for a quick run up the coast of the United States 
to the various home ports. On the second day 
out from St. Thomas, the Merrimac (always in 
the lead of the imposing armada, like a general 
marshaling his forces), chased two strangers, 
who proved to be Americans bound for St. 
Thomas. 

Having escorted the merchantmen well on 
their last stretch of the voyage to the United 
States, the Merrimac, on February 28th, sig- 
naled : " Make the best of your way home," 
headed about, and shaped her course so as to 
make a broad sweep to the eastward of the 
Lesser Antilles, in the hope of falling in with 
[ 160 ] 



A HARD CHASE 

some of the enemy's cruisers on her way back to 
Prince Rupert's Bay. On several occasions 
Captain Brown's expectations seemed about to 
be fulfilled. 

At two o'clock on the morning following his 
farewell to his fleet, he discovered two strange 
sails, one to the northeast and one to the south- 
east. An hour later he made out the first to be 
a ship standing for the Merrimac. Finding, on 
exchange of signals, that she was English, Cap- 
tain Brown, at four o'clock, tacked to the south 
and overhauled the schooner Victory, fourteen 
days out from Norfolk. 

At ten o'clock on the night of March 6th the 
Merrimac discovered and gave chase to a sail 
directly ahead. In spite of rain squalls and the 
darkness. Captain Brown managed to keep on 
the track of the stranger and, at 3 a. m., picked 
up a small boat which, evidently, had been 
thrown overboard from the chase. All that day 
the race continued, the stranger being fore-and- 
aft-rigged, making a better course of it to 
windward than the square-rigged Merrimac. 
[161] 



CONVOYING A GREAT FLEET 

By nightfall the chase had greatly increased her 
lead and, during the night, escaped. 

No further sign of a sail was discovered until 
on the morning of March 10th, when two large 
ships were descried off the northern end of the 
island of Desirade, at which point the Merrimac 
had now arrived on her return voyage to the 
rendezvous. Making signals, Captain Brown 
soon learned that they were the Constellation 
and the British war-ship Santa Margarita. The 
Merrimac now laid a direct course for Prince 
Rupert's Bay, arriving there on the following 
day. 



[16S] 



CHAPTER XV 

CAPTURING FRENCH WAR-SHIPS 

/4 FTER remaining in port two weeks, the 
/"-% Merrimac, on March 20th, put to sea 
in company with the United States, 
Constitution and Eagle for a cruise. Making 
their course for Guadeloupe, they took a look 
into the harbor of St. Pierre, Martinique, where 
they saw a number of vessels. Becoming sepa- 
rated from her consorts, the Merrimac made her 
way up to Antigua and, on the evening of 
March 25th, gave chase to a brig which made 
every effort to escape. The pursuit lasted all 
night but at half -past five o'clock in the morn- 
ing the Merrimac was sufficiently near to bring 
the chase to with a shot. She proved to be the 
Harmony of Baltimore, which had been captured 
by the French privateer, Resolue, and had on 
board a prize-master and eight negroes. Tak- 
[163] 



CAPTURING FRENCH WAR-SHIPS 

ing his prisoners on board the Merrimac, Cap- 
tain Brown placed a prize crew in the Harmony 
and escorted her to St. Pierre, where they ar- 
rived March 30th. 

Remaining in port only long enough to re- 
plenish his water casks, Captain Brown put to 
sea again on April 1st for a general cruise 
among the islands. A number of sails were 
spoken and meetings with war-ships were 
frequent. 

At one o'clock on the morning of April 10th a 
large ship was discovered bearing down on the 
Merrimac, Captain Brown made the neces- 
sary night signals but, as they were not an- 
swered, he hastily cleared for action. At 
daylight the stranger proved to be the Consti- 
tution. 

On the following day the Constitution spoke 
a brig from Surinam and learned that the 
Portsmouth was at that port with a fleet of sixty 
American merchantmen ready to sail for the 
United States. It was also learned that a num- 
ber of French privateers were fitting in the 
[164] 



A BRIEF VISIT HOME 

vicinity with a view to attacking the merchant- 
men whenever opportunity offered. 

Two weeks later, while the Merrvmac was 
cruising near St. Thomas, a number of sails were 
descried to leeward and, on running down and 
exchanging signals, they proved to be the 
Surinam convoy under the protection of the 
Constitution. The next few days the Merrimac 
was engaged in " drumming up " the rear of the 
fleet — that is, towing the dull sailers so that 
the convoy might remain in compact form. 

After remaining near the fleet several days, 
the Merrimac shaped her course northward and 
on May 12th anchored in Nantucket Roads 
from which place she went to Boston, anchoring 
in President's Roads May 15th, thus giving the 
officers and men of the ship an opportunity to 
see their families and friends. Remaining in this 
port only a few days, the Merrimac again got 
under way and on June 7th sailed from Boston 
to return to her station in the West Indies. 

At two o'clock on the morning of June 20th, 
while on her old cruising ground, the Merrimac 
[165] 



CAPTURING FRENCH WAR-SHIPS 

gave chase to a suspicious sail and, after a hard 
run, in which she fired twenty-three shots, the 
cruiser came up with her and, giving a broad- 
side, compelled the stranger to haul down her 
flag. She proved to be the French national 
schooner Magicienne, of fourteen guns and six- 
tj^-three men. The prisoners were taken aboard 
the Merrimac and, placing a prize crew of ten 
men aboard the Magicienne, Captain Brown re- 
sumed his cruise, having his prize in company. 

At one o'clock on the morning of the follow- 
ing day, while near the island of Desirade, a sail 
was discovered northward and, standing for her, 
the Merrimac fired three shots and brought her 
to. Owing to the extreme darkness and vio- 
lent squalls the Americans were unable to board 
their prize. Captain Brown ordered the French- 
men to hoist a light and to remain close by until 
daylight. During a terrific storm of thunder 
and lightning the Merrimac lost sight of the 
second vessel but managed to retain the Magi- 
cienne. 

It was on this dark night that Captain 
[166] 



A TERRIBLE TROPICAL STORM 

Brown gave proof of those sterling qualities 
which so distinguished him as a commander. 
The incident was narrated in 1846 by Dr. Na- 
thaniel Bradstreet who, for many years, was a 
prominent physician in Newburyport. Dr. 
Bradstreet, as a young man, entered the navy, 
his first service being that of surgeon in the 
Merrimac on this cruise. The following is taken 
from Samuel Swett's sketch of Moses Brown's 
life, privately published in 1846. 

" Dr. Bradstreet relates," says Mr. Swett, 
" how they were visited by one of those tre- 
mendous storms which are known only within 
the tropics, accompanied by the most terrific 
thunder and lightning he had ever witnessed. 
Every man on board was thoroughly appalled 
at the instant, inevitable destruction which 
seemed impending over them — excepting their 
commander who, in the height of the tempest, 
was walking his quarter deck in total, absolute, 
unruffled composure. 

" Dr. Bradstreet, though a very firm man, 
observing him was tempted by his anxious ap- 
[167] 



CAPTURING FRENCH WAR-SHIPS 

prehension to venture the bounds of formal pro- 
priety and put this question to him: 

" ' Don't you think we are in danger from the 
storm, sir? ' 

To which Captain Brown repHed, very 
calmly : " ' Why, doctor, it has not hurt us 
yet.' 

" And there was no stage acting here. In 
the midst of this war of worlds, his impassive 
intellect framed at once his instant, most logi- 
cal answer to a very logical man; and even 
threw in a gleam of his own sportive humor be- 
sides for the encouragement of those about 
him. There is a surpassing interest in all this 
and a lofty sublimity indeed, that would render 
all further comment superfluous." 

At eight o'clock on the following morning 
chase was given to a schooner and on bringing 
her to she was found to be the Isabella from 
Baltimore ; the same the Merrimac had brought- 
to the night before. Captain Brown now made 
for Basseterre Roads, arriving there with his 
prize June 30th, and landed his prisoners. 
[168] 



CRUISING IN COMPANY 

Remaining in port only long enough to refit 
and take on board provisions, Captain Brown got 
under way again July 5th for a cruise to the 
southeast. After speaking the English letter- 
of -marque Lucretia and the American privateer 
Polly, of North Carolina, John Chadwick, 
master, and meeting a large number of vessels 
daily, the Merrimac made her way to the east 
side of Guadeloupe and Desirade; where she 
would be most likely to fall in with outward and 
homeward bound ships. She frequently met 
other vessels of our fleet and at times cruised in 
company with the Ganges, George Washington 
and Norfolk, 

Under date of July 15th Joseph Brown notes : 
" At 5 A. M. saw a sail. Gave chase but at 8 
A. M. lost sight of her. At 10 a. m. saw a sail to 
the south and gave chase to it. At 11 a. m. saw 
a Danish schooner to windward. Gave her a 
gun. The Norfolk spoke her. Continued chas- 
ing the other sail, which was a small schooner. 
Fired two shots at her. At noon gave over the 
chase, the schooner being close inshore." 
[169] 



CAPTURING FRENCH WAR-SHIPS 

On July 19th, while the Merrimac, Ganges 
and Norfolk were scudding before a heavy 
squall, the Norfolk carried away her maintop- 
mast. Captain Brown immediately bore down 
to his consort and went aboard with proffers of 
assistance. The injury was a slight one but, 
fortunately, none of the crew was hurt. As the 
Norfolk would be placed in a precarious position 
if she met a French war-ship while in this par- 
tially crippled condition, the Merrimac and 
Ganges accompanied their consort to Prince 
Rupert's Bay, arriving there on the day follow- 
ing the accident. 

The next day, however, the Merrimac^ having 
refilled her water casks, put to sea again in 
company with the Ganges. That day they fell 
in with a great fleet of American and English 
merchantmen bound for St. Kitts under the 
protection of the United States and other war- 
ships. By order of Captain Barry, the Merri- 
mac and Ganges were ordered to escort the mer- 
chantmen to their destination. Taking a dull 
sailing sloop in tow, the Merrimac resumed her 
[170] 



A FLEET OF 100 MERCHANTMEN 

convoy duties. Having seen the fleet safely 
into Basseterre, St. Kitts, the Merr'imac, at the 
special request of the American agent at that 
place, Mr. Clarkson, convoyed a schooner to St. 
Bartholomew, Mr. Clarkson being a passenger. 

While returning from this errand, the Merri- 
mac gave chase to a schooner which failed to 
answer the signals and, after tacking several 
times, and finding that the schooner was gaining 
on him. Captain Brown fired two shots to induce 
her to heave-to. It proved to be the EngHsh 
sloop Neptune, William P. Robertson, master. 

By the time Captain Brown returned to Bas- 
seterre he found there assembled a fleet of one 
hundred merchantmen* awaiting convoy to the 
United States. As so many ships were too 
bulky a mass to be conveniently navigated in 
the comparatively narrow waters of the West 
Indies, they were divided into squadrons, and 
escorted one at a time to St. Thomas, and 
thence homeward. 

While lying in Basseterre Roads waiting to 
take his turn at this work. Captain Barry re- 
[171] 



CAPTURING FRENCH WAR-SHIPS 

ceived word that several French privateers were 
cruising to the southward and he sent the Mer- 
rimac, post-haste, after them, with the result 
that one of the most dangerous French letters- 
cf-marque in the West Indies was captured. 
The details of this affair are given in the Mer- 
rimac^s log as follows: 

" Aug. 6th. — At 1 p. M. hove up [anchor] 
and got under way. Saw a small fleet of Ameri- 
cans running down under the convoy of an 
English letter-of-marque, from Martinique 
bound to America. Took them under my own 
convoy. At 4 p. m. saw the Commodore 
[Barry] with a prize which he had captured, 
from Guadeloupe, laden with sugar and coffee. 
At 5 p. M. went on board with the Commodore 
[probably in obedience to a signal]. At half- 
past five o'clock the Captain returned and made 
sail. Left the fleet to proceed on under convoy 
of the English [letter-of-marque] brig. [Evi- 
dently Captain Barry had received information 
about French privateers and had dispatched 
the Merrimac after them.] At 11 a. m. spoke 
[172] 



CAPTURE OF THE " BONAPARTE " 

a Danish schooner from Martinique. At 11.30 
A. M. boarded an EngHsh brig from Hahfax 
bound to Antigua, out twenty-one days. A sail 
in sight running down. 

" Aug. 7th. — Begins with fresh breezes and 
squally weather. Employed beating to wind- 
ward. At 1 p. M. boarded the schooner Neutral- 
ity, from New Haven bound for St. Kitts, out 
thirty-four days. At 8 a. m. saw a sail. Bore 
away and gave chase. Fired three shots and at 
nine o'clock brought her to. She proved to be 
the French letter-of -marque Bonaparte, of eight 
guns and thirty-four men. Took the prisoners 
on board, and manned her with a prize crew. 
The island of Nevis bearing southwest, one-half 
south, distant four leagues." 

Although one of the smallest privateers in the 
West Indies, the Bonaparte had contrived to do 
more injury to American commerce than any 
other French armed vessel. The Merrimac re- 
turned to Basseterre with her prize. 



[173] 



CHAPTER XVI 

VERY ACTIVE CRUISING 

THAT Captain Brown did not earn 
" idle bread " while in the service of 
the Government is fully shown by the 
log of the Merrimac. As we have seen in the 
last chapter, he entered the port of Basseterre 
with his prize, the Bonaparte, on the night of 
July 7th. Leaving a midshipman and two men 
in charge of the privateer, he sailed again 
early in the morning of the 9th, and resumed 
his search of the enemy. 

On the evening of the next day, while in com- 
pany with the Pickering, he gave chase to a 
strange sail. Managing to keep in sight of 
the stranger all that night the Merrimac, on 
the following morning, came up with it and 
found her to be a French cartel — " with a cargo 
of prisoners on board " — from Guadeloupe 
[174] 



A SOCIABLE DINNER AT SEA 

bound to Charleston, S. C. Most of the cap- 
tives were American sailors who had been 
taken in trading vessels by French men-of-war 
and privateers and had been confined in the 
dungeons of Guadeloupe. Many of them had 
been brutally treated and, packed in the nar- 
row confines of the cartel, presented a pitiable 
appearance. 

To break the monotony of the cruise, the 
officers of our different war-ships frequently 
dined with one another while sailing in company. 
It was while Master-Commandant Edward Pre- 
ble, of the Pickering, was dining with Captain 
Brown aboard the Merrimac, August 12th, that 
word was sent down to the Captain's cabin that 
a strange sail had been sighted. Young Joseph 
Brown does not say what the sturdy sea fighters 
had for dinner but that is immaterial to this 
narrative, for Preble immediately rushed up on 
deck, threw himself into his gig and urged his 
oarsmen, at a thirty-two-a-minute stroke, to 
hasten back to the Pickering, while Captain 
Brown was setting all sail — chuckling with glee 
[175] 



VERY ACTIVE CRUISING 

to find that he had got a five-minutes' start of 
the Pickering. 

All this haste was futile, and the good din- 
ner was wasted, however, for the stranger proved 
to be the good United States ship Ganges, Cap- 
tain Thomas Tingey. Determined to have a 
fine feast, anyway. Captain Brown went 
aboard the Ganges " at 8 p. m. and returned 
at half -past nine o'clock " [so the log reads] — • 
ample time for a man with a forty-eight-inch 
waist to enjoy the good things of life. 

The three vessels, Merrimac, Ganges and 
Pickering, now cruised in company for several 
days. On the 14th the Merrimac chased a 
stranger into a port in Guadeloupe. Captain 
Brown persisted so long in the effort that he 
got under the guns of the fort and had to haul 
aboard his tacks so sharply that the good ship 
was taken by surprise — or at least got her head 
into the wind and was taken " aback." As there 
was a stiff breeze at the time it was really a 
critical moment for the ship — as she began to 
gather stern-board. With good management, 
[176] 



SEARCHING FOR A PRIVATEER 

however, the sloop-of-war was put about and 
" showed a clean pair of heels " to the fort. 

On the evening of the 15th of August the 
squadron gave chase to a stranger. All night 
long the ships crowded on every stitch of canvas 
that would draw but the Ganf^es, having the 
advantage in position, had the honor of running 
down the game on the following morning. It 
proved to be an American schooner that had 
been captured by a French privateer and was 
now making for Guadeloupe with a French 
prize crew aboard. 

From the American prisoners on board it was 
learned that the privateer was near by and, 
shaping their course in the direction given, the 
Americans soon descried her sails and made all 
haste in pursuit. The vessels were now in sight 
of Guadeloupe and the chase — after receiving 
four shots from the cruiser — managed to make 
the port in safety. 

Under dates of August 17th Joseph Brown 
notes : " At three o'clock in the afternoon, hove- 
to off Basseterre, St. Kitts. At 5 p. m. lost a 
[177] 



VERY ACTIVE CRUISING 

man overboard by the name of Martin Maden." 
Getting under way again the next day, the 
Merrimac fell in with a fleet of nine American 
and one English merchantmen and convoyed 
them to St. Thomas. After cruising several 
weeks to the windward of the Lesser Antilles, in 
company with several other American war-ships, 
the Merrimac, on September 6th, put into 
Prince Rupert's Bay for water. 

As illustrating the ceaseless activity of this 
service, it will be noted that on the second day 
in port, while engaged in filling up her water- 
casks, a squadron of seven sail appeared pass- 
ing the entrance of the harbor making north- 
ward. In obedience to signals from Captain 
Barry the Merrimac was at once put under sail, 
ran out to investigate and, on ascertaining that 
the strangers were not French, returned to her 
moorings. 

On the 10th of September the Merrimac 

again got to sea, in company with the Ganges, 

for a cruise northward. After beating for a 

week against a strong head wind and a lee cur- 

[178] 



A RECAPTURE 

rent, the Merrimac, while off Dcsirade, gave 
chase to two large sails. Much to the disap- 
pointment of all, they proved to be the English 
sloop-of-war Bittern with her prize, a French 
privateer recently captured. 

Working her way northward, the Merrimac 
put into Basseterre, St. Kitts, for provisions 
and, on the evening of the 24th of September, 
while cruising in sight of Porto Rico, gave 
chase to a strange sail. The pursuit lasted all 
night, and on the following morning Captain 
Brown came up with and boarded the English 
schooner Charming Nancy, which had recently 
been captured by a French privateer and was 
in the possession of a French prize crew. The 
Charming Nancy was bound for New York. 
Captain Brown took the Frenchmen aboard the 
Merrimac and, placing a midshipman and five 
men aboard the schooner, ordered them to make 
the best of their way to that port. 

Scarcely had the Americans completed the 
change when another sail hove in sight and, 
giving chase, the Merrimac, at 7 p. m., over- 
[179] 



VERY ACTIVE CRUISING 

hauled the American sloop Elizabeth, from New 
York bound for Cura9ao which, also, had been 
captured by the French and was in the hands of 
a prize crew. Transferring the prisoners to the 
Merrimac, Captain Brown worked his way along 
the southern side of Porto Rico and on the 
afternoon of September 28th made sail after a 
stranger which led him a hard chase all that 
night. Early on the following morning he came 
up with it. It proved to be a French schooner 
with a number of passengers aboard from Jac- 
quemel, bound for St. Domingo. As the ship 
was not armed, Captain Brown, after placing 
on board three of his prisoners, allowed the 
schooner to proceed. A few hours afterward 
chase was given to another sail but, after 
getting within gunshot and firing a few shots, 
the Merrimac lost her in the night. 

While cruising to the south of Porto Rico 
the Merrimac, on the 30th of September and 
the 1st of October, boarded two Spanish vessels 
and two English privateers but did not molest 
them. While near the Grand Cayman, on the 
[180] 



AT VERA CRUZ 

5th of October, two boats put off from the 
shore and, thinking that they might have in- 
formation of value to him. Captain Brown 
hove-to. On coming alongside they proved to 
be " bumboats," manned by negroes anxious to 
sell fresh provisions. Captain Brown purchased 
some turtles from them and resumed his 
cruise. 

Making his way into the Gulf of Mexico 
and signaling vessels almost every day. Captain 
Brown, on the 20th of October, anchored in the 
harbor of Vera Cruz, where he filled his water 
casks and replenished his stock of provisions. 
Three days later the ship was ready for sea, 
waiting only for a favorable wind. The wind, 
however, blew steadily from the wrong direction 
for forty-eight hours, compelling the Merrimac 
to remain in port. 

At one time the gale was so heavy that the 
cruiser dragged her anchors and was com- 
pelled to run a hawser to a Spanish frigate and 
hang on to her. Finally, on the afternoon of 
the 25th, the wind served and, firing a salute 
[181] 



VERY ACTIVE CRUISING 

of thirteen guns, which was answered by 
the Spanish frigate, the Merrimac put to 
sea. 

Shaping his course back to his old cruising 
ground. Captain Brown, on the evening of No- 
vember 18th, gave chase to a suspicious sail 
which appeared to the west. As the stranger 
seemed anxious to avoid a meeting. Captain 
Brown crowded on all sail, notwithstanding the 
fact that a terrific gale was blowing at the time. 
All that night the Merrimac staggered and 
groaned under a fearful pressure of canvas — 
the chase also bordering on the danger point 
in sail-carrying in her evident eagerness to es- 
cape. It was not until five o'clock the next 
morning that the Merrimac finally reached the 
chase and, even then, it was not until the Ameri- 
cans had fired three shots that the stranger was 
induced to heave-to. Much to the chagrin of 
all, she proved to be a Spanish sloop out of 
Havana. As it was blowing a heavy gale, with 
a boisterous sea. Captain Brown did not board 
and permitted her to proceed. The Spaniards 
[182] 



A SERIOUS LEAK 

had mistaken the Merrimac for an EngUsh war- 
ship. 

On the 21st of November the Merrimac put 
into Havana for water and provisions, where 
she found the Norfolk, Captain Brown had 
now received his homeward-bound orders and, 
taking on board eleven French prisoners from 
the Norfolk he left Havana on the 25th of No- 
vember and shaped his course northward. 

When four days out a dangerous leak was 
discovered in the f orehold. The weather, at the 
time, was stormy and heavy seas made it ex- 
ceedingly difficult to get at the place. It seems 
that the Merrimac had a quantity of coal 
aboard for ballast and it got in the pumps in 
such a way as to prevent them from working. 

All hands that could be spared from navigat- 
ing the ship, were at once put to work getting 
the coal out of the hold. The task was not com- 
pleted until the next morning, when the car- 
penter found that the leak could not be reached 
until the ship made port. A passage was cleared 
for the water, however, and by working one 
[183] 



VERY ACTIVE CRUISING 

pump all the time the leakage was kept 
down. 

From this time on the Merrimac encountered 
a series of gales and, on the 1st of December, 
Captain Brown placed his quarter-deck guns in 
the hold in order to steady his ship. The Mer- 
rimac put into Cape Ann Roads December 8th 
and anchored, after an absence from home of 
six months, nearly all of that time having been 
spent on the open sea. Young Joseph Brown 
now resigned from his position as midshipman 
and left the navy for mercantile pursuits. 



[184] 



CHAPTER XVII 

CLOSING SCENES 

THE year 1800 opened auspiciously for 
American arms in the West Indies. 
Early in February, the 36-gun frigate 
Constellation again had the envied opportunity 
of meeting a worthy foe — her antagonist this 
time being the 4)0-gun French frigate Venge- 
ance. Our navy was materially increased and 
a larger force was detailed for patrol and 
convoy duty in the West Indies. 

As might be expected, such a powerful and 
successful cruiser as the Merrimac was not per- 
mitted to remain long in port and, early in 
1800, Captain Brown again found himself on 
his way to the scene of hostihties. In the course 
of the naval campaign of this year the Merri- 
mac captured two French privateers, the 
Brillante, of sixteen guns, and the Phenix, of 
[186] 



CLOSING SCENES 
fourteen guns and one hundred ai;d twenty- 
eight men — besides rendering valuable services 
in the hne of convoying merchantmen and re- 
capturing American traders which had fallen 
into the enemy's hands. 

At one time Captain Brown was intrusted 
with the command of a small squadron, consist- 
ing of the Merrimac and the 20-gun sloop-of- 
war Patapsco, Captain Henry Geddes, to 
disperse a fleet of French armed craft, mostly 
letters-of-marque and picaroons, which had 
sailed from Guadeloupe and had made a 
descent on the island of Cura9ao. This place 
had been captured from the Dutch by the 
English only two years before and so became 
a legitimate object of attack for Frenchmen. 
Had they confined their acts of violence to 
Englishmen, there would have been no ground 
for American intervention but our interests 
had been infringed upon and so this squadron, 
with Captain Brown as its " commodore," was 
sent out. 

Midshipman Benjamin Whitraore, who was in 
[186] 



EXPEDITION TO CURACAO 

the Merrimac on that expedition, says in a pri- 
vate letter, written in 1846: "They (the ban- 
ditti) took Outer Banda, or the west side of the 
river, and plundered the inhabitants of. nearly 
everything. Our ship [the Merrimac'], with the 
Patapsco, was ordered there, and on our appear- 
ance at the island they all cut and ran. But 
before they could reach Guadeloupe, whence 
they sailed, we captured the Brilliante. Other 
of our cruisers captured two or three more of 
the picaroons." 

After this blow, French privateering in the 
West Indies steadily declined so that many of 
our cruisers were ordered home. A treaty of 
peace with France, which had been in course of 
negotiation some time, was ratified by the Senate 
February 3, 1801, and all our cruisers were re- 
called. 

It has been noted in a previous chapter that 
when Congress tried the costly experiment of 
" running a government " without a naval force 
sufficiently large to protect its commerce and 
interests abroad, our merchants suffered losses 
[187] 



CLOSING SCENES 
which, in the aggregate, amounted to many 
times the sum saved by not maintaining a naval 
force commensurate with the growth of the 
country. 

As a result of the brief protection afforded by 
the little navy called into existence by our war 
with France, the exports from the United States 
increased from $57,000,000 in 1797— when not 
a single American cruiser was in commission — 
to $78,665,528 in 1799: an increase of over 
$21,000,000. In the same period the revenue 
on imports rose from $6,000,000 to $9,080,932. 
The entire cost of this naval force, including 
construction, equipment and maintenance, was 
not over $6,000,000 — a fairly good commen- 
tary on the sound common sense of insuring the 
safety and prosperity of the country by main- 
taining a navy of a size proportionate with 
its wealth. As if the lesson of the French war 
was not sufficient, the Government, on the con- 
clusion of peace with France, immediately began 
to cut down the navy. It was under John 
Adams that the Navy Department had been es- 
[188] 



REDUCING THE NAVY 

tablished and the new navy created. In fact, 
Adams all through the Revolution was one of 
the master minds who recognized the necessity 
of a naval establishment and did his utmost to 
advance the interests of our mercantile marine. 
In the Presidential campaign of 1800, John 
Adams was defeated and Thomas Jefferson was 
elected President of the United States. As 
Jefferson represented the extreme democratic 
view of government — which at that time was as 
much opposed to a permanent navy as the country 
at large was to a standing army — it was gen- 
erally believed that the newly created navy was 
doomed. In justice to the broad, discriminat- 
ing statesmanship of Jefferson, however, it must 
be admitted that, on his accession to power, he 
placed the navy on a peace footing in a manner 
that would have done credit to John Adams 
himself.^ 

^That the opposition of the Democrats (as they may 
properly be called) to a standing army and a navy was, at 
that time, reasonable, will be seen in the following ex- 
tracts from the private journal of William Maclay who, 
with Robert Morris, represented Pennsylvania in the first 

[189] 



CLOSING SCENES 

It is true that there was a large reduction 
in the materiel and personnel, but on a careful 
inspection of this " cutting down " process it 
will be found that Jefferson, while making 
radical changes in almost every other de- 
Congress, 1789-1791. It was a time when precedents 
were to be established and a strong effort was made by 
some to have the new government conform as much as 
possible to the pomp and parade of Old World courts, 
after so much had been done to establish a real Republic 
in America. In the absence of Thomas Jefferson in 
Europe, William Maclay, unquestionably, was the leader 
of democratic ideas and principles in the first Congress, 
and did much to frustrate the attempts of the " mon- 
archists," as they were called by some, to ape the mon- 
archical functions of European courts. 

In his private journal, Mr. Maclay says: "It is the 
design of the Court party [referring to those who wished 
the new government to conform as much as possible to 
the monarchical ideas of the Old World] to have a 
fleet and an army. This was but the entering wedge of 
the new monarchy in America, after all the bloodshed 
and sufferings of a seven-years' war to establish a repub- 
lic. The Indian war is forced forward to justify our 
having a standing army, and eleven unfortunate men now 
in slavery in Algiers is the pretext for fitting out a fleet." 
In another place he says : " I have heard it break out 
often. It is another menace to our republican institu- 
tions." — See William Maclay's Journal, p. 383. 

[190] 



« HONORABLY DISCHARGED " 
partment, left the navy practically unim- 
paired. 

When peace was proclaimed there were thirty- 
four war-ships in the navy, nineteen of which 
were disposed of ; leaving only fifteen in the ser- 
vice. This, at first glance, might seem like a 
sweeping reduction but the sifting out had been 
done advisedly so that, while nineteen out of 
thirty-four ships had been retired, the actual 
strength of the navy had been reduced only 
one-fifth — the vessels retained being the largest 
and most formidable while those discarded were 
of the lower ratings. 

In reducing the personnel, however, there was, 
necessarily, much injustice done. It is easy to 
discriminate between the fair and poor qualities 
of competitive ships, so as to determine which 
are the more valuable but when such choice is 
made between a given number of officers the 
difficulties are obvious. It cannot be denied that 
Captain Brown's record in the two-years' war 
against France had been exemplary — if not dis- 
tinguished. He did not have the coveted oppor- 
[191] 



CLOSING SCENES 

tunity of meeting a foe worthy of his steel and, 
while his service was one of constant activity, 
watchfulness, anxiety and strain, there was 
nothing about it which we can point out as dis- 
tinguishing it from that performed by a score 
of his brother officers. 

When the personnel of the navy was cut 
down to nine captains, thirty-six lieutenants 
and one hundred and fifty midshipmen. Cap- 
tain Brown was one of the twenty-eight cap- 
tains who were " honorably discharged." It is 
possible that politics had something to do with 
the venerable sailor's retirement, as he was a 
decided Federalist (though not a warm parti- 
san), the party that formed the opposition to 
the newly elected President. To use his own 
words, spoken twelve years before, he found 
himself thrown " once more on the wide world 
for employment to earn bread for myself and 
family." 

Thus, after forty-four years of continuous 
service on the ocean, the last two of which had 
been spent in Uncle Sam's navy. Captain Brown 
[192] 



END OF THE MERRIMAC 

found himself turned adrift on the world to 
shift for himself, with nothing to show for 
these long years of toil but a weakened frame, 
a goodly shock of white hair and a rich fund 
of experience — assets that seldom profit a for- 
tune-seeker at the age of threescore. 

The gallant Merrimac, shortly after her ar- 
rival in Boston from her West Indian service, 
was sold in 1801 for $21,154, nearly half of 
her original cost to the Government, which was 
$46,170. Her name was changed to Monti- 
cello, in honor of Thomas Jefferson's home, and 
she was fitted out as a merchantman. " As 
though indignant at the insult " [i. e., the 
transformation from a noble war-ship to a mer- 
chant tramp] , writes Mr. Swett, " she soon lay 
a wreck on the sands of Cape Cod in one com- 
mon tomb with her new commander; as the 
Scythian warrior and his war-horse of old 
shared one common grave." 

Captain Brown, however, pluckily kept the 
faith and made a good fight. He turned to his 
old employers, and soon found a berth as cap- 
[193] 



CLOSING SCENES 

tain of a merchantman. He made several voy- 
ages to the West Indies with varying success. 
While returning from Guadeloupe, he was seized 
with apoplexy, January 1, 1804. The ship, at 
the time, was in sight of the Long Island shore. 
Realizing the seriousness of the stroke. Captain 
Brown — toward sundown, the weather being 
fine — asked to be carried on deck in order that 
he might see his native land before he died. 
Tenderly the rough seamen lifted the dying 
sea warrior on deck, and placed him in his arm- 
chair. At his request he was then turned slowly 
around so as to view all points of the horizon 
in succession. Having completed the circle 
and taking a last look at his beloved native 
land, he feebly remarked : " I have seen enough. 
Carry me below." He was taken to his cabin 
and died in an hour. When the news arrived in 
Newburyport all the shipping in port half- 
masted their colors. 

Although the ship was only a few days' sail 
from her home port. Captain Brown was buried 
at sea. At first, much surprise was expressed by 
[194] 



DEATH OF MOSES BROWN 

members of his family that his remains had not 
been kept until arrival in port but it was after- 
ward believed that the venerable mariner him- 
self had asked to have a sailor's burial. " His 
funeral rites," said Mr. Swett, " were entirely 
appropriate and perfectly in keeping with the 
whole tenor of his life. The only appropriate 
tomb for him was the deep where, during the 
whole of his protracted life, had been his home. 
The only proper mausoleum for him was the 
mountain wave which he had so long made sub- 
servient to his will." 

The ocean he sailed on while living, 
Will sigh o'er him when he is gone. 



[1951 



CHAPTER XVIII 

CONCLUSION 

IN this work the writer has endeavored to 
give, not so much a life of Moses Brown, 
as a picture of the daily perils, hardships, 
privations and adventures of the average naval 
officer, in the early days of the service. But 
Brown's adventures, extraordinary as they cer- 
tainly were, are only a counterpart of those ex- 
perienced (with some variation) by dozens of 
brother officers of his day and scores and hun- 
dreds of those who succeeded him. 

His experiences are startling to the reading 
public because we know them to be true. Fic- 
tion would fear to follow where these facts have 
led the way. It has been this dearth of detail 
in the personality of our seamen that has, to a 
large extent, deadened public interest in the 
navy. As we have seen, the bare outlines of the 
[196] 



UNOFFICIAL OPPORTUNITIES 

life of Moses Brown furnish material for several 
works of fiction. 

In the Explanatory note introducing this 
volume mention is made of Dame Opportunity. 
In that preface the every-day, unofficial oppor- 
tunity — the opportunity that does not catch the 
public ear or dazzle the pubHc eye — was not 
touched upon. The writer doubts not that 
every man in the United States navy to-day, of 
twenty or more years' service, can recall acts of 
heroism on the part of officers or men of the 
ship's company, performed in the ordinary, 
every-day routine of ship life, that were fully 
equal in point of personal bravery or patriotic 
fervor to any that have been exploited in page 
after page of popular literature. 

It has been the writer's privilege to visit fre- 
quently war-ships of the United States — and 
those of other nations — in foreign ports. At 
one time, while in Yokohama, Japan, he wit- 
nessed the rescue of the crew of a Japanese 
junk, that had been entangled in the wreck of 
the Pacific Mail steamer America near the 
[197] 



CONCLUSION 

Kanagawa forts. The Bund was lined with 
American, English, French and native specta- 
tors — a terrific typhoon being under full head 
at the time. Two boats put out from an Ameri- 
can war-ship and, in spite of the appalling 
chop seas, saved the Islanders. 

Some years later the writer witnessed an or- 
dinary maneuver in the Thames, England, on 
the part of a United States war-ship when the 
lives of several hundred excursionists depended 
on the calmness of one officer. As many know, 
the ebb and flood tide in the Thames, when at 
" full rush," is tremendous. Few steamers can 
stem it. The war-ship in question was obliged 
to change her moorings and had got under 
way, when an excursion steamer came dashing 
around a bend in the river with the ebb 
tide at its strongest — crowded with pleasure- 
seekers. 

Unluckily, the Yankee war craft, getting her 
" nose caught afoul of the stream," swung 
broadly across the narrow river, so that a disas- 
trous collision with the excursion boat seemed 
[198] 



A CRITICAL MOMENT 

unavoidable. The captain of the cruiser being 
absent, a young officer was in command. As 
the fearful situation dawned upon the crew 
every eye in that well-drilled ship's company 
was instinctively fixed on the young officer and, 
for an instant, a dead silence fell over the men, 
as they awaited his next order. It was a trying 
moment, just such as confronted Farragut in 
Mobile Bay, when he said, " Damn the torpe- 
does ! " 

Taking in the situation at a glance, the 
officer leaned far over the rail of the quarter 
deck and in a calm, harsh voice, that carried 
inexpressible authority in it, said to the master 
of an English coaster that was anchored in the 
way, " I guess you'd better slip your anchor 
chain." The Englishman promptly complied, 
the swift tide carrying his craft downstream 
sixty fathoms. The man-of-war then dropped 
an anchor and, in less time than it takes to tell 
it, straightened out in the berth so hastily va- 
cated by the coaster — the excursion boat just 
cleared the war-ship's stem. 
[199] 



CONCLUSION 

The incident may seem trivial and trivial it 
certainly was in its results, for no life was lost 
and no injury was done; yet the maneuver was 
cleverly conceived, quickly executed and called 
for the qualities of a great commander in the 
height of a naval engagement. Had the young 
officer's nerve or wit failed at that critical mo- 
ment, one of the greatest disasters in British 
river navigation would have resulted. 

These are merely two incidents that have 
fallen within the obsei-vation of the writer. 
That there have been hundreds and thousands, 
equally praiseworthy in their nature, which have 
never reached the public, is obvious. Captain 
Brown belonged to that large class of patient, 
conscientious, painstaking officers who, while 
faithfully performing the every-day drudgery 
of routine work, year after year, never received 
even an official recognition of their worth be- 
yond that of slow promotion. 

In personal appearance Moses Brown was 
about six feet high, with a well-knit figure, 
broad shoulders and, in later years, somewhat 
[200] 



BROWN'S CHARACTERISTICS 

corpulent, though ever light and active on his 
feet. He shaved his face smooth, after the 
fashion of the day, and wore a wig with wavy 
tresses — possibly in keeping with his life on the 
ocean. It is estimated that in the forty-seven 
years he spent at sea he made over sixty-five 
voyages, some of them covering more than a 
year, and one over two years. He was taken 
prisoner three times, fought two full-fledged 
battles, captured about ten of the enemy's ves- 
sels and had the ghastly distinction of having 
been buried ahve — at least his supposedly hfe- 
less body was sewed up in a canvas shroud, with 
heavy shot at his feet and the board was about 
to be tipped up when signs of life were dis- 
covered in him. 

Captain Brown's toast to " General Wash- 
ington, the Commander-in-chief of the Ameri- 
can Army " — given while he was a prisoner 
aboard the 50-gun frigate Experiment, Cap- 
tain Sir James Wallace, and in the presence of 
his officers — is of itself sufficient to mark him 
as a man of strong character. It forms an 
[201] 



CONCLUSION 

historical picture worthy of a place beside that 
of Molly Pitcher, Nathan Hale and other lesser 
lights of the Revolution. 

While not loud in his religious professions, 
Captain Brown practiced that quiet, unassum- 
ing Christianity so frequently seen in the navy, 
and so delightful to those who really " know 
the man " and realize how bravely he is endeav- 
oring to follow the higher ideals of life without 
preaching or parading it before his brother 
officers. 

It is not probable that Moses Brown, on sail- 
ing from port, ever went so far as to leave a 
note for the minister asking for prayers that 
" God would preserve him in his attempt to 
scour the coast of our unnatural enemies " — 
and incidentally show a handsome balance on 
the books in the counting room of the pri- 
vateer's owners. This is what the commander 
of the Gamecock — a pert little sloop of thirty 
tons and carrying four swivels — always did 
and, being one of the first private-armed cruis- 
ers to get to sea in the Revolution (sailing in 
[202] 



HIGH IDEALS OF MORALITY 

August, 1775), the precedent was more or less 
religiously followed by many of our privateers- 
men throughout that struggle. 

That Captain Brown was not a superstitious 
man is shown in the fact that he consented to 
take command of the Merrimac with the full 
knowledge of the baleful circumstances that her 
keel was laid on a Friday and that she was 
christened on that unlucky day — and, singu- 
larly enough, her first prize was taken on a 
Friday. 

From all the evidence we have in hand we 
conclude that Captain Brown had that 
thoroughly gentlemanly accomplishment of re- 
fraining from the use of profane or harsh ex- 
pletives in his speech. In his treatment of his 
subordinates — at least in his later years — ^he 
refrained from " jumping at a conclusion," al- 
lowed the man a chance to recover from that 
" stage fright " or trepidation a true sailor 
usually feels when addressing (out of the or- 
dinary routine) an officer, encouraged the men 
to explain themselves fully, and looked on both 
[203] 



CONCLUSION 

sides of the question before coming to a de- 
cision. 

It must not be inferred from the foregoing 
that Captain Brown was of the loblolly, soft- 
hearted and soft-headed order. It is the testi- 
mony of all who served under him that he was 
a disciplinarian of the strictest kind; placing 
no burden on the men that they could not prop- 
erly perform, but exacting the utmost precision 
and celerity for the task in hand. 

Moses Brown died a poor man, that is, he 
left no considerable property. He had always 
managed, however, to maintain his family boun- 
tifully and to educate his children. He was of 
an exceedingly social disposition and affection- 
ate in his family relations, an exhaustless story- 
teller and a special favorite with the children, 
of whom he was very fond.^ 

1 As showing his tender regard for children, the fol- 
lowing letter from Captain Brown to the widow of his 
son William, who was lost at sea, 1799, is given: 

St. Kitts, U. S. Ship Merrimack, Oct. ye 28 1800. 
My Dear Catey, 

it is with anctious simpithy I ira- 
ploy my pen on so meloncoly a Subject; but a letter 
[ 204 ] 



A SYMPATHETIC NATURE 
We get an interesting side-light on the Cap- 
tain's character in the following quotation from 
the pamphlet of Samuel Swett : " In the Ar- 
minian church, where he worshiped, — which, 

Resiev'd from my Brother confirms my opinion of the 
loss of my son & your husband; God in wisdom chastizes 
us; and I hope it will be for our futer good my Dear 
girl I know the stroke is heavey on you but Remember 
tis the same hand that gave him that is ye author of 
this fatal blow and put your trust in him who is the 
widdows god and father of ye fatherless children, who 
hath said leave thy fatherless children I will keep them 
alive and let thy widdows trust in me. Breach on 
breach has been made in my family & tis a dept we must 
all pay (man was born to die) we know not when nor 
where, tis therefore our duty to Endeavor to be Ready 
for that Solom hour, my daughter I must beg you to 
compose your Self as well as possible and Remember in 
me you have a father and friend on earth & I hope 
above a father that is better than all earthly parents. 

how short and hasty is our day 
Life's but a tottering wall 
the daley breaches plainly tell 
the house must shortly fall 

I cannot but expect to follow my children soon Even 
if I live to what is called the age of men — tis but a few 
days at most. 

Your affectionate father, 

Moses Brown. 

[205] 



CONCLUSION 

in his day was, by a great majority, deemed 
to be heretical and its worshipers doomed to 
destruction — preparations had been made, on 
Sunday, for baptism of one of Captain Brown's 
grandchildren. But when the time arrived for 
the performance of the rite, the child was not 
forthcoming. The erect, courteous and pa- 
triarchal clergyman. Parson Cary, arose in his 
pulpit and, knowing well his man and that he 
could depend on his self-possession, inquired: 
" Captain Brown, do you expect your grand- 
child to be brought in for baptism to-day ? " 

The Captain, rising in his pew, in his plain, 
simple manner, replied: 

" I did expect it, sir, but they seem to have 
been detained ; " and the services proceeded as 
usual, as if nothing uncommon had taken 
place. 

Although not a total abstainer (such char- 
acters were few and far between in those days), 
Captain Brown was a temperate man in the best 
sense of the phrase, and endeavored to inculcate 
his principles in those around him, as will be 
[206] 



HONORED DESCENDANTS 

seen in the following story : " Captain Brown 
was very exemplary in his moderation. While 
on a voyage and discovering that one of his 
officers too frequently and immoderately re- 
sorted to a small cask of spirits — a part of the 
ship's stores — he did not hesitate to make what 
he must have esteemed a very great sacrifice. 
In his conciKatory manner he made an impercep- 
tible leak in the cask by which it was effectually 
drained. When this officer next resorted to the 
cask and, putting his hand on it, discovered 
that it was empty, so abject a slave had he be- 
come to the enemy that was destroying him, 
body and soul, and so appalled was he at the 
sudden and instant sense of his deprivation, that 
his whole strength failed him — he sank under it 
helpless on the floor." 

Two of Captain Brown's sons, William and 
Moses, were lost at sea. 

The descendants of Moses Brown have held 
many honored positions — social and political — 
in New England. The only male great-grand- 
children now living, however, are Mr. Causten 



CONCLUSION 

Browne, a prominent lawyer in Boston, George 
Brown, of Bangor, Me., and the Hon. Moses 
Brown, of Newburyport, Mass. George Brown 
was major in the First Maine Cavalry during 
the Civil War. 



[ 208 ] 



APPENDIX 

Explanation of the "Minerva's" com- 
mission : 

At the upper left-hand corner is the seal of 
the Navy Department, or Admiralty Office, as it 
was then called. It shows a frigate under top- 
sails and has crossed anchors below. In the 
circle around the seal are the words : " U. S. A., 
Sigil Naval," while the rest of the circle is 
filled in with six-pointed stars. The commission 
(which is a document 12x16 inches) reads as 
follows : 

THE CONGRESS 

Of the United States of America, 

To ALL to whom these presents shall come, 

send GREETING. 

KNOW YE 
T H A T we have granted, and by these pres- 
ents do grant license and authority to Moses 
[209] 



APPENDIX 

Brown, Esq. — Mariner, Commander of the 
Ship called the Minerva — of the burthen of 
Two hundred & twenty — tons or thereabouts, 
belonging to Nathaniel and John Tracy of 
Newburyport, County of Essex & Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts, mounting sixteen car- 
riage guns, and navigated by sixty men — men, 
of out and set forth the said ship — in a war- 
like manner, and by and with the said ship — 
and officers and crew thereof, by force of arms, 
to attack, subdue, seize and take all ships and 
other vessels, goods, wares, and merchandizes 
belonging to the Crown of Great Britain, or 
any of the subjects thereof, (except the ships 
or vessels together with their cargoes belonging 
to the Inhabitants of Bermuda, and such other 
ships or vessels bringing persons, with intent to 
settle within any of the said United States, 
which ships or vessels you shall suffer to pass 
unmolested, Masters thereof permitting a 
peaceable search, and giving satisfactory in- 
formation of the lading and their destination) 
or any other ships or vessels, goods, wares or 
[210] 



THE MINERVA'S COMMISSION 
merchandizes to whomsoever belonging which 
are or shall be declared to be subjects of cap- 
ture by any Resolutions of CONGRESS, 
or which are so deemed by the L A W of N A - 
T I O N S : And the said ships and vessels, 
goods, wares and merchandizes so apprehended 
as aforesaid and as prize taken, to bring into 
port in order that proceedings may be had con- 
cerning such captures in due Form of Law, and 
as to Right and Justice appertaineth. And 
we request all Kings, Princes, States, and Po- 
tentates, being in Friendship or AlUance with 
the said United States, and others to whom it 
shall appertain to give the said Moses Brown 
all aid, assistance and succour in their ports 
with his said vessel, company and prizes. W E , 
in the name and on behalf of the Good People 
of the said United States, engaging to do the 
like to all the Subjects of such Kings, Princes, 
States and Potentates, who shall come into any 
Ports in the said United States; and We will 
and require all our officers whatsoever, to give 
to the said Moses Brown all necessary aid, suc- 
[211] 



APPENDIX 

cour and assistance in the premises. This Com- 
mission shall continue in force during the pleas- 
ure of the Congress, and no longer. 

IN TESTIMONY whereof, We have caused 
the Seal of the Admiralty of the United States 
to be affixed hereunto. 

WITNESS His Excellency, Samuel Hun- 
tington, Esquire, President of the CONGRESS 
of the United States of America, at Philadel- 
phia this twenty-fourth day of February in the 
Year of our Lord One thousand, seven hun- 
dred and eighty-one and in the fifth year of our 
Independence. 

Samuel Huntington, 

President. 
Passed the Admiralty Office, 
John Brown, 

Secretary to the Board of Admiralty. 



[212] 



INDEX 



Adams, John, 188, 189 
Adams, J. (Lieut.), 138 
Algiers, Dey of, 118, 119 
AUen, Charles W., 23, 46 
Alliance, 99, 128 
America, 99 
America, Steamer, 197 
Amsterdam, 98 



Basse Terre, 155 
Batavia, 129 
Bennett, Moses, 112 
Bermuda, 109, 113, 144, 

210 
Bey on, Thomas, 78, 88-91 
Biddle, Nicholas, 26 
Bishop, Captain, 96 



Antigua, 52, 55, 154, 163, Bittern, 179 



173 
Ariel, 99 
Arnold, Benedict, 17 



Blanchard, William, 147 
Boardman, Offin, 36, 38, 39 
Bonaparte, 173, 174 
Bonhomme Richard, 16, 99, 

128 
Bordeaux, 70 
Boston, 35, 36, 38, 45, 63, 68, 

99, 101, 103, 112, 141, 143, 

165, 193 
Bowie, Archibald, 38 
Bradstreet, Nathaniel, 136, 

167, 168 



Ballard, Captain, 150 
Bainbridge, William, 26 
Baltimore, 121, 140 
Baltimore, 100, 101, 111, 163, 

168 
Barbadoes, 138, 147, 154 
Barney, Joshua, 120 
Barron, Samuel, 140 
Barry, John, 120, 138, 170, Bright, Francis, 140 

172, 178 BrillantS, 185, 187 

Bartlett, Hon. Bailey, 125, Brown, Edward, 41 

127 Brown, George (Major), 

Bartlett, William, 127 208 

Basseterre, 50, 157, 168, 170, Brown, John, 138 

171, 173, 177, 179 Brown, John, 212 

[213] 



INDEX 



Brown, Joseph, 111, 112, 
114, 136, 140, 160, 169, 
175, 177, 184 

Brown, Kate (Mrs.), 204 

Brown, Moses (the Hon.), 
21, 23 

Brown, Moses (Captain U. 
S. N.), 13, 16, 17, 21, 32, 
33; ancestry, 41, 42; first 
voyages, 43-45; first sea 
battle, 48-50; early voy- 
ages, 51-58; first Euro- 
pean voyage, 59-67; in 
the General Arnold, 68- 
92; a prisoner in the Ex- 
periment, 93-96; perilous 
times at sea, 98-115; build- 
ing the Merrimac, 130-132; 
in the Merrimac, 137-185; 
at Curasao, 186, 187; 
" honorably discharged," 
191, 192; again in the mer- 
cantile service, 193; his 
death, 194, 195; character- 
istics, 201-207; descend- 
ants, 208 

Cadiz, 60, 88 
Campbell, Hugh G., 138 
Canton, 129 
Cape Ann, 78, 97 
Cape Ann Roads, 96, 184 
Cape Cod, 193 
Cape de Verdes, 104 
Cape Finisterre, 86, 89 



Cape Francois, 98 
Cape Lookout, 101 
Carey, Parson, 206 
Carterett, 146 
Cephalonia, 63 
Chadwick, John, 169 
Charleston, S. C, 18, 63, 96, 

174 
Charming Nancy, 179 
Chase, Samuel, 136, 159 
Chesapeake, 119 
Clark, Thomas M., 128 
Clarkson, Mr., 171 
Coats, David, 96 
Coffin, Sarah, 65 
Coffin, William, 43, 44, 53 
Collingwood, Lord, 26, 29 
Congress, 119 
Connecticut, 136 
Constellation, 119, 121, 138, 

140, 157, 162, 185 
Cook, Sea, 78-80 
Constitution, 14, 119, 121, 

138, 153-155, 163-165 
Conyngham, Gustavus, 59 
Coombs, William, 127 
Cooper, William, 86 
Corufia, 86, 93 
Cowdrey, L., 47 
Crescent, frigate, 118, 119 
Cross, William, 128, 133 
Curasao, 21, 180, 186 



Dale, Richard, 26, 120 
Davenport, Anthony, 111 



[S14] 



INDEX 

Friends, 23, 36, 40 

Gamecock, 202 

Ganges, 121, 136, 169, 170, 



Bearing, Mr., 134 

Decatur, Stephen, 26 

Deer Island, 131 

Delaware, 121 176-178 

Desirade, 151, 153, 154, 162, Geddes, Henry, 186 



166, 169, 179 
Dewey, George, 27, 30 
d'Estaing, Count, 18, 96 
Diamond, frigate, 70 
Diligence, 121, 138 
Dominica, 50, 148, 149, 151 
Dove, 113, 114 
Dover, 93 
Dyer, Samuel, 78, 80 

Eagle, 121, 138, 163 
Elizabeth, 180 



General Arnold, 13-18, 69- 

72 
General Greene, 122 
General Hancock, 69 
General Montgomery, 69 
General Pickering , 69 
General Putnam, 69 
General Washington, 69 
George, 93 
George Washington, 121, 

136, 138, 151-154, 169 
Getchell, Emily A., 19, 20, 23 



Emmons, George F., 13, 14, George the Third, 94, 95 



76, 108 
Engs, Captain, 35 
Essex, brig, 105 
Essex, frigate, 31, 125, 129 
Eustace, 96 



Gibraltar, 84 
Goederson, John, 46, 47 
Governor Jay, 122 
Grand Cayman, 180 
Gray, Thomas, 25 



Experiment, 17, 18, 77, 93, Greele, Thomas, 18, 77, 78, 

81, 85, 86 
Greene, Nathaniel, 45 
Gregory, John, 84 
Gregson, 15, 82, 84, 91 
Guadeloupe, 50, 53, 113, 148, 
156, 163, 169, 172, 174- 
177, 186, 187, 194 
Gulf of Mexico, 180 
Gulf Stream, 144 



95, 201 

Falmouth, 62, 146 
Farragut, David G., 26, 29- 

31, 99 
Fletcher, Nathan, 136 
Fletcher, Patrick, 13, 104, 

138, 152 
Eraser, Colonel, 49 



Friday (unlucky day), 203 Hackett, William, 127-130, 
Friend, WiUiam, 55-57 133 

[215] 



INDEX 



Hale, Nathan, 202 
Halifax, 43, 44, 48, 56, 71, 

173 
Hampton Roads, 123 
Hannah, brig, 70, 71 
Hannah, schooner, 111-114 
Harmony, 163, 164 
Havana, 101, 182 
Haverhill, 125 
Herald, 121, 138 
" Herald," Newburyport, 

132, 133 
Hercules, 103 
Hobson, Richmond P., 20, 

123 
Holland, Captain, 107 
Holyoke, S., 131 
Hub, The, 36 
Hull, Isaac, 28 
Huntington, Samuel, 109, 

212 

Indenture, in apprentice- 
ship, 45 

India, 102, 104 

Ingersol, Joseph, 43 

Innbarrow, 41 

Insurgent, 13, 104, 157 

Intrepid (Ketch), 28 

Intrepid (privateer) , 98- 
101, 128 

Ipswich, 35 

Isabella, 168 

Isle of France, 103 

Isle of May, 104 



Jacquemel, 180 

Japan, 197 

Jefferson, Thomas, 189, 190, 

193 
Johnson, Nicholas, 127 
Johnson, William, 85 
Johnson, William P., 127 
Jones, John Paul, 16, 26, 59, 

99 

Kanagawa, forts, 198 
I^ake Champlain, 116 
Lake Champlain, battle of, 

31 
Lane, John, 103, 104 
Lesser Antilles, 160, 178 
Lexington, battle of, 16, 17, 

60 
Limerick, 102 
Lisbon, 102 
London, 36, 38, 63, 64 
Long Island, 194 
rOrient, 100 
Louisburgh, 43, 45 
Lowell, Captain, 52 
Lucretia, 169 
Lufsinson, Captain, 44 
Lunt, Henry, 16, 98, 99 
Lynn, 41 

Macdonough, James, 26 
Maclay, Senator William, 

189, 190 
Madeira, 77 
Maden, Martin, 178 



[216] 



INDEX 



Magee, J., 14, 76 
Magicienne, 166 
Magniflquej 99 
Maine Historical Society, 

18 
Marie Galante, 151, 153 
Marigold, 58 
Martha, 57 

Martha's Vineyard, 58, 114 
Martinique, 54, 55, 154, 156, 

163, 172, 173 
Matro, 60 

May, Andrew, 58, 64 
May, George, 64 
McNiell, Daniel, 138 
Mercury, 98 

Merrimac, small sloop, 55 
Merrimac (No. 1), sloop- 

of-war, 19-22, 33, 42, 54, 

121; building, 123-136; in 

the West Indies, 137-188; 

wreck of, 193 
Merrimac (No. 2), ironclad, 

20, 123 
Merrimac (No. 3), collier, 

20, 30, 123 
Miller, James M., 30 
" Millions for Defense," 

120 
Minerva, privateer, 108, 209- 

212 
Monitor, 123 
Montezuma, 121, 157 
Montgomery, 21 
Monticello, 193 



Montserrat, 156 
Moore, Alexander, 104 
Morris, Robert, 189 

Nanny, 15, 79; capture of, 

86-91, 192 
Nantucket Roads, 165 
Nassau, 110, 111 
Naval Protection, 188-190 
Nelson, Horatio, 26, 29 
Neptune, schooner, 44 
Neptune, sloop, 171 
Neutrality, 173 
Nevis, 45, 57, 156, 173 
Newbold, prize master, 114 
Newbury, 34 
Newburyport, 20, 22, 34, 35, 

40, 41, 44, 52, 53, 57, 58, 

66, 69, 70, 85, 130, 136, 194 
New Haven, 173 
Newman, Captain, 118 
New Orleans, 29 
New Providence, 110 
New York, 64, 101, 180 
Nicholson, Samuel, 120, 138 
Norfolk, 161 
Norfolk, 121, 140, 169, 170, 

183 
Norton, 64 

O'Brien, Richard, 118 
Oporto, 93 
" Opportunity," 27 
Osgood, Nanna, 129 
Osgood, William, 129 



[217] 



INDEX 



Otis, Samuel A., Jr., 127 

Parker, Sir Peter, 63 
Parsons, Jonathan, 58 
Paramaribo, 107 
Patapsco, 186, 187 
Paulding, Hiram, 30, 31 
Pearl, frigate, 150 
Perry, Oliver H., 26 
Petition for Merrimac, 126 
Phenix, 185 
Philadelphia, 58, 64, GQ, 68, 

119 
Philadelphia, 119 
Philip, John O., 33 
Phillips, Isaac, 140 
Pickering, 122, 138, 174-176 
Pike, Dorothy, 41 
Pinckney, 121 
Pitcher, Molly, 202 
Plymouth, 76 
Polly, 58 

Polly, privateer, 169 
Porter, David, 26 
Porto Rico, 138, 179, 1*^0 
Portsmouth, 52, 70, 99, 118, 

134 
Portsmouth, 121, 136, 138, 

164 
Phoebe, 48-50, 52, 53, 56 
Piscataqua, 118 
Point Petre, 50, 112 
Port au Prince, 57, 110 
Pffeble, Edward, 138, 175 
Preble, George H., 26 



President, 119 
President's Roads, 165 
Prince Rupert's Bay, 138, 

148, 150, 153, 161, 162, 

170, 178 
Providence, R. I., 21 

Quebec, 45, 68 
Quincy, Mass., 129 

Randolph, Edmund, 118 
Ranger, sloop, 43, 45 
Reprisal, 79 
Resolue, 163 
Rhode Island Light, 96 
Richmond, 121, 140 
Ring's Island, 42 
Robertson, William P., 171 
Robinson, James, 48, 49 
Robinson, John, 84 
Roseau, 151 
Russell, Charles G., 138 

Saba, 157 

Sailor's Delight, 96 
Salem, 40, 125 
Salisbury, 42, 129, 130 
Sampson, William T., 30 
Saints, the, 148, 157 
Santa Margarita, 162 
Saquash Beach, 58 
Savannah, 77, 95 
Scammell, 122, 138 
Sea Flower, 44 
Sea Nymph, 45 



[ 218 ] 



INDEX 

Seely, Frederick, 46, 47 Tingey, Thomas, 176 



Senegal, 103 
SerapiSy 16, 99, 128 
Smuggling, 53 
South Carolina, 122 
Staples, Captain, 44 
St. Bartholomew, 171 



Tilton, George P., 23 
Titcomb, Jonathan, 136 
Titcomb, Michael, 136, 149 
Tobago, 138 

Trenchard, Edward, 33 
Trenchard, Stephen D., 33 



St. Christopher (See St. Tracy, John, 210 

Kitts) Tracy, Nathaniel, 18, 30, 98, 

St. Cruz, 58 102, 103, 210 

St. Domingo, 180 Trafalgar 

St. Eustatius, 44, 50, 52, 58, Treludden, John, 146 

64, 96, 157 Tripoli, 28 

Stewart, Charles, 26 Truxtun, Thomas, 26, 120, 

St. George's Bank, 113 138 

St. Kitts, 44, 45, 50, 52, Tucker, Robert, 113 

138, 157, 170-173, 177, 179, Tyng, Dudley A., 127 



204 
St. Martin, 52, 138 
St. Michael's, 80, 83, 84 
Stocker, Ebenezer, 127 
St. Pierre, 163, 164 



Tyrannicide, 129 

United States, 119, 121, 138, 
153, 163, 170 

Valparaiso, 31, 129 



St. Thomas, 54, 159, 160, V^^^geance, 185 



165, 171, 178 
Sukey, 22, 35, 39 
Surinam, 105, 107, 165 
Sicallow, 43 
Swasey, William H., 23 



Venice, 60, 62 
Vera Cruz, 181 
Victory, 161 
Virgin Gorda, 138 
Virginia, 122, 140 



Swett, Samuel, 66, 134, 167, Wallace, Sir James, 17, 18, 



193, 195, 205 

Talbot, Silas, 120 
Thames, England, 198 
Thomastown, 147 
Three Friends, 147 



77, 93-96, 201 
Washington, privateer, 35 
Washington, George, 94, 95, 

160, 201 
Webber, Ignatius, 19, 78, 

81, 93 



[219] 



INDEX 

Western Islands, 80 Winslow, John A., 26 

Wexford, 102 Worcestershire, 41 

Wheelwright, Captain, 107 Warden, John L., 26 

Whitmore, Benjamin, 42, Wright, John or Jahan, 46, 



136, 186, 187 
William, 84, 85 
Williams, Edward, 45 
Williams, Thomas, 140 
Willicat, Captain, 93 
Willis, Captain, 107 



47 
Wright, Mary, 46, 47 

Yokohama, 197 

Zante, 63 



THE END 



[220] 



THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

"JACK" PHILIP 

The ONLY BIOGRAPHY of the Distinguished Admiral 

Edited by EDGAR STANTON MACLAY, Author of 

"Moses Brown," "A History of the U. S. Navy," 

etc., etc., Assisted by BARRETT PHILIP. 

Large quarto, illustrated, net, $2.50. 

It contains articles by 

WILLIAM McKINLEY 

Our Martyr President 
ALFRED THAYER MAHAN 

Captain U. S. N. (Retired) 
JOHN DAVIS LONG 

Ex-Secretary of the Navy 
WILLIAM THOI^IAS SAIVIPSON 

Rear- Admiral U. S. N. 
MARY PHILIP WHEELOOK 

Sister of Rear-Admiral Philip 

And many distinguished naval officers. 

A most interesting feature of the binding is the 
COPPER TABLET (five inches long) of the "Texas" 
which appears on the front cover. It is embossed 
BO that the turret, sponsons, military masts, etc., 
stand out from the surface. 

As a gift it is peculiarly suitable, for it is a book 
that appeals especially to all people interested in the 
navy — and that means almost everv man, woman and 
child in the United States. It will NOT be a COM- 
MON GIFT, for the edition is limited to six hundred 
copies. 

The Baker & Taylor Co., Publishers 

33-37 East 17th Street, Union Square North, New York 



SOCIAL PROGRESS 

A YEAR BOOK AND ENCYCLOPEDIA 

OF INDUSTRIAL, ECONOMIC, 

SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS 

STATISTICS. 

Edited by Dr. JOSIAH STRONG 

Cloth, net $i.oo Postage 8 cents 



A compact statistical and descriptive Year Book 
of social progress in the United States, and so far 
as possible in the world. 

The Year Book, under the editorship of Dr. 
Josiah Strong, a guarantee both of the compre- 
hensiveness and accuracy of th^ work, will give 
each year, in compact form, the statistics and 
facts, primarily for the United States, and less 
minutely for the world at large, of all lines of 
social advance, religious, moral, educational 
economic, commercial, and legislative. 

It will give the annual statistics of Labor 
Unions, and especially report the progress of Ar- 
bitration in the settlement of industrial difficul- 
ties, and, better still, the prevention of difficul- 
ties by Trade Agreements and Boards of Conaili- 
ation. 

It will report the statistics of Child Labor, 
Civil Service, Cooperation, Divorce Reform, 
Education, the Housing Problem, Institutional 
Churches, Public Ownership, the Initiative and 
Referendum, Social Settlements, Tax Reform, 
Temperance, The Hours of Work and the Wages 
of Men and Women. 

The book will show the growth of the various 
reform Political Movements, and especially of 
Labor and Reform Legislation. 



The Baker & Taylor Co., Publishers 

33-37 Bast 17th Street, Union Square North, New York 



W 72 


















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